


Son of Pluto (Paranatural/Percy Jackson AU)

by Blairdiggory



Category: Paranatural (Webcomic)
Genre: Dad Puckett is actually Pluto, Doorman is actually Janus, Eightfold is actually Hebe, Forge is actually Hephaestus, King C is actually Zeus, Lucifer is actually Athena, Max is a child of Pluto, Muse is actually Dionysus, Other, Patchworm is actually Argus, Percy Jackson AU, Scrapdragon is actually Verminus, Violence and blood but not explicit, Zoey is a child of Pluto, boss leader and garcia are hypnos, cody is nike, collin is athena, day is aphrodite, isaac is zeus, isabel is ares, jeff is hebe, lisa is dionysus, spender and zarei are apollo, starchman is dionysus, suzy and dimitri are hermes, violet is athena, walker is ares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-08-11 10:16:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 29,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7887265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blairdiggory/pseuds/Blairdiggory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Max learns that he and his sister are children of Pluto. Slowly, things in the world begin to make sense. He'll face trials and terrors along the way, but his new demigod friends will be right by his side!<br/>(This is my personal headcanon for the Pnat character Greek/Roman parentage. Feel free to write your own with different parents and stuff!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

Maxwell Puckett was not having the best day as he came to Camp Jupiter. 

 Mom Puckett had nearly always been a single mother. Max’s father had appeared a few times when Max was young, though the twelve-year-old could barely remember his dad, not that he cared. His father had left for good when his mother had wound up with Zoey, and the family hadn’t seen him since. Max remembered his mother saying good things about his father, always making excuses.  

“He runs the Underworld, after all,” she used to chuckle when Max asked for stories of his father instead of the usual bedtime stories. “He has a fascination with death cults too, so watch out!” She’d fake eating Max up and tickle him as he fell asleep.  

Mom Puckett always talked of his father in a light way, in which she’d laugh at all the times they had together, her eyes glowing with brightness and amusement. She never saw the deadbeat, irresponsible dad that Max saw. He grew tired of her endless stories about the ‘Underworld’, which was clearly some metaphor for something she didn’t think he was old enough to hear. But everything began making sense the day Verminus showed up.  

Baxborough, California was experiencing a heat spell, so hot that Max’s mother decided it was best to take them out to the countryside. The vineyards were sweltering by midday, but Max and Zoey didn’t care. It was nice to get out of the smoky city. They’ d been lounging on a hill for hours, rolling around in the grass and spotting clouds. Max hated to admit he’d been having fun and claimed he was only doing this for Zoey’s sake. His mother and sister paid no mind to this way of thinking and wouldn’t bring it up again later, as long as they enjoyed being a family on this one bright day. 

The fun only ended when Max had noticed something moving in the distance. It was as if the hills had come alive, rolling as if a snake crawled beneath the surface. When he pointed it out, his mother had gone so white that he feared she would pass out. 

“Mom?” he asked, putting a hand on hers. 

“Get the car,” she had responded, with so much fury and fear in her voice that Max nearly grabbed Zoey and hauled her into the family van.   Mom Puckett hit the gas, staying nearly in the middle of the road. Her hands were clenched tightly on the wheel, and her face was grim. 

 “Mom, what’s wrong?” Max had asked. Zoey was in the back, barely controlling her crying. 

“It… it has to do with your father,” Mom Puckett said, letting out a sigh. 

“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this.” 

 “What does this have to do with him?” Max said angrily.  

“I’m going to tell you what I should have told you a long time ago. Your father, Max and Zoey, is Pluto-“ 

“The dog?” Max gasped. “Or the planet?”  

“Neither,” his mother said with a shaky laugh. “The Roman god.” 

“WHAT?!” Zoey yelled so loudly that their mother nearly swerved off the road.  

“I mean it. You know how you always find those strange rocks wherever we go? For your collections?”  

Max had noticed. Something about his rock collection hadn’t seemed right. Sam and Doghouse had similar collections, but theirs didn’t contain anything nearly as shiny and gem-like as his.  

“You guys can summon them, just like he can. Precious metals and gems,” his mom said, wiping away tears that were beginning to spill over. “And that darkness that surrounds you both? I know you’ve felt it. That’s Pluto’s influence. The god of the underworld.” 

 “Mom, I think something’s wrong,” Max said. There was no way his mom was making sense. “I think you should pull over.”  

“No, I can’t!” his mother said, slightly hysterical, before she composed herself a bit. “That thing following us is Verminus. He’s a forgotten god, one who protected cattle from disease back in the day. Your dad angered him before, but he’s kept us hidden. I don’t know how Verminus got loose.”  

“Mom,” Max said. “Slow down, and get off the road.”  

“Max, honey, if I lose this battle, promise me you’ll get you and your sister to Camp Jupiter. They can help you there. Other demigods will help you.”

 “MOM!” 

Suddenly, Zoey screamed as the ground rumbled beneath them. An earthquake, Max thought, until a giant beast burst from the ground in front of them.  Their mother slammed on the brakes, barely avoiding crashing into the monster. It looked like a snake, with twelve eyes glowing blue and red and a set of deadly sharp teeth.  

“Max, hand me your baseball bat,” his mother said sternly. 

Max’s little league bat was in his hand before he knew what happened, and his mom reached back and took it from his hand.  

“Get out of the car, and run,” she said. “Use the compass that you got at Boy Scout camp, the camp is due west, but don’t use your cell phone. It will attract more monsters.”  

“Monsters?” Zoey and Max said simultaneously. 

 “GO!” she screamed, launching herself out of the car and at the beast, baseball bat in hand.  Max and Zoey hurried out of the car and began running away from the monster, but Max made the mistake of looking back. His mother bashed the monster on the head with the bat, but it made no difference. The beast simply shook its head as if his mother was an annoyance, and when she launched herself at it again, it swiped its tail, knocking her back onto the road. The baseball bat, being lighter and smaller than his mom, hurtled toward him and Zoey. 

 “Mom!” Max cried. He turned around and ran for the baseball bat, ready to avenge his mom.  

“Max!” Zoey cried. “She said-“ 

 “I know what she said, but I’m not leaving her!” Not like our dad left her, he thought. Even if he was the reason this beast was fighting them.  

Mom Puckett got up on shaking legs. She saw her son coming towards her.  

“Stay back!” she yelled, crying. “Stay back so I can distract it while you run!” 

She launched herself at the creature in one last ditch effort to save her children, but Verminus outmaneuvered her. She jumped directly into its mouth, where she disappeared in a swirl of golden mist. The beast roared. 

 Max couldn’t comprehend what had just happened, so he continued running at the beast, ready to avenge his mother’s death, when he heard Zoey crying out to him. He realized that if he went for this beast, he would probably die, and he’d be leaving Zoey alone, and that couldn’t happen. His breathing came in ragged gasps as he began running again, this time towards Zoey and away from the beast. Terminus seemed confused, but it let out another ear-splitting roar and dove into the ground.

  Max and Zoey kept running. They couldn’t see Verminus now, couldn’t tell if he was coming after them or was sated by their mother’s death. The ground began to roll underneath them. Zoey was whimpering.  Max got out his compass and adjusted their course so that he and Zoey were going west. He wasn’t sure what they were looking for. He heard police sirens in the distance, but after learning of gods and monsters, he wasn’t sure if the cops would be a help or a hindrance, so he kept running. Zoey followed him. They had run roughly half a mile before Max finally realized that Zoey couldn’t run any longer.  

“Camp Jupiter,” she kept repeating it like a mantra. “Camp Jupiter…”  

“We can slow down now,” he told her. 

When she didn’t seem to hear him, he grabbed her hand. A darkness encompassed them, and before he could figure out what was happening, the world collapsed into a bright pinprick of light, and their surroundings became shadows.  As quickly as it happened, the world turned back to normal, though now they were in front of two pillars of stone. In between them was a gold and purple banner that read, “Welcome top Camp Jupiter!” 

 “Camp Jupiter…” Zoey said quietly.  

“Yeah…” Max said. 

 Both of them passed out. 


	2. Camp Jupiter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All of the Pnat characters are Greek demigods, so have some shameless OC inserts!  
> Avery belongs to a friend of mine (damgiftshop), Concordia and Blair are my own OC's

Max didn’t quite wake up from passing out. At least, not at first.    
His surroundings were hazy, and he had no peripheral vision. It was like looking at a fuzzy TV. He heard his name being called.   
 “Max? Max? Can you hear me?”   
Max vaguely remembered the voice, but he couldn’t place it. Something in his consciousness must have clicked into place with the voice because it started talking further.  
 “Max, we don’t have a ton of time.”  
 “Who is this?” Max asked.   
“I’m Pluto, your father.”   
Max’s mind began to shatter.   
“You left her… you left my mom…” Max said.   
“No, I didn’t. I had to… Now’s not the time.”   
A bespectacled face came into view. Pluto’s brown hair swept over his brow, his face young and lean. He gave Max a wan smile.   
“I need you and your sister to go east, to New York. There’s a camp there called Camp Half-Blood. I know your mom said to go to Camp Jupiter, but there are plans in place. You need to get to Camp Half-Blood. I’m sure I can convince Apollo to tell the auger here to send you there…”   
Camp Half-Blood? Apollo? Auger? What was Pluto talking about?   
“It’ll all make sense in time, Buddy Bear. And don’t worry about your mother-“   
The vision got cut off, and Max once again fell into blackness.  Max heard his name being called again.  

“Max!” Zoey called, off in the distance. When he registered her voice, his mind shifted, and his eyes opened.   
Zoey held his hand so tightly he thought his fingers might fall off. She looked pale, but as soon as she saw he was awake, her color began to return.  
 “Zoey, sit down,” he said groggily.   
Something behind her eyes said she knew she should, but she stayed by Max’s side.   
 “Max, I… I had a dream. I saw Dad-“   
“Me too. But it couldn’t have been real-“ Max said.  
 “Actually, dreams for demigods are usually very real,” said a voice, interrupting them.  Max turned and saw a blond girl finish talking to someone at the entrance to the room, which, now that he was looking around, looked like an infirmary.    
“Max, this is Cordy,” Zoey said, giving her a small smile.    
“Actually,” yelled the girl whom Cordy had been talking to. “Everyone calls her by her real name, Concordia-“ “  
No, they don’t! Shut your trap, Avery, and get going to practice!”   
 Avery groaned, but left with a smirk on her face.  Cordy shook her head.    
“That girl’s a pain. A great fighter, but a giant pain,” she said, rolling her eyes.    
“What is this place?” Max asked, painstakingly sitting up.    
“This is Camp Jupiter! We take in stray demigods like you guys, and we train-“   
“Hold up,” said Max. “Are you telling me that we’re like Hercules? Like, kids of gods and goddesses and stuff? Because I’m pretty sure I’m human.”  
 “Demigods are part human, part god,” Cordy said. “Your sister mentioned your dad was Pluto. I wouldn’t have believed it, but you guys shadow-traveled here.”  
 “We did what?”  
 “Shadow-travel. You literally traveled through shadows. You teleported here, I guess would be a way to describe it.”   
“How did we… I mean, that shouldn’t be possible! There’s no way-“ Max stammered.    
“Zoey told me about your encounter with Verminus,” Cordy said. “You know what you saw.”   
Max supposed he did know what he saw. But the other things he saw…  
 “My mother…”   
“I’m sorry.” Cordy pushed her long hair out of her face. “I really am. A lot of us here have lost parents for similar reasons.”  
 Zoey cocked her head.    
“Who’s your godly parent?” she asked quietly.   
 “Bellona. She’s the Roman goddess of war.”  
 “So, let’s get this straight,” Max said. “You’re the daughter of a goddess. We’re the children of a god.”   
“Correct. Pluto is your dad, to be more precise.”  
 “And now, Pluto wants us to go to this place Camp Half-Blood-“   
“Wait, what?” Cordy halted the conversation.   
“That’s what happened in my dream,” Max said. Zoey nodded in agreement. “You said dreams were real, right?”   
“What exactly happened in your dream?” Cordy asked.  Max recounted his dream, as did Zoey. Their dreams were nearly identical. Cordy paused for thought.    
“Well, it’s not like us to ignore the orders of the gods. But normally, we don’t send anyone outside of camp without a quest…” she paused. “You know what, let’s ask our auger. She can usually tell us what’s up.”   
“Pluto mentioned an auger in the dream,” Zoey said. “What is it?”  
 “She’s a seer, of sorts. She tell us prophecies and interprets what the gods want us to do. Max, are you feeling well enough to walk?”   
Max twisted his body and got out of bed, though he stumbled a little.    
“Great,” Cordy said, clapping her hands together. “I’ll go introduce you to Blair.”  

As the trio walked to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, demigods walking about straightened their backs and gave respectful nods to Cordy as they passed by. They looked quizzically at Max and Zoey for split seconds, never long enough for Cordy to notice.    
“Why do they look at you like that?” Zoey asked.   
“More importantly,” said Max. “Why are they looking at me and Zoey like that?”  
 “I am Preator of Camp Jupiter,” Cordy said. “One of two. I command our armies. We’re looking for a second one, as my original partner just retired. Blair is actually up for this coming election because people think we ‘balance each other out’.”   
“Why are the others looking at us?” Max repeated.   
“You’re new, and you’re children of Pluto. We haven’t seen any since the pact was made between the Big Three.”   
“Big Three?”  
 “Pluto, Neptune, and Jupiter are the most powerful gods in Olympus. They were so powerful, and their children were so powerful, that they agreed to stop having mortal children. This happened after the debacle of World War II, when their kids nearly destroyed the world again.”  
 “Again?” Max asked.  
 “Yeah, don’t ask,” Cordy said, grimacing. “Anyway, you guys are pretty special in that regard. It’ll be up to you to figure out your powers, but we can train you how to fight. Blair has your baseball bat right now. It’s made of Stygian Iron, apparently. That's one of the three sacred metals used to defeat monsters.”   
Max and Zoeywere silent, taking in the new information. They’d have to fight monsters. They were demigods, special ones apparently, and had supernatural powers.  They walked in silence up to an alter located in a temple at the top of a hill. A brown-haired girl bent over some objects scattered upon the alter, her brow twisted in concentration. She looked up as the three demigods entered the temple and smiled.  
 “It’s wonderful to have some company up here,” she said. “What can I do you for, Cordy?”   
“These two had dreams of their father, Pluto. He says he wants to send them to Camp Half-Blood, but we’d need a quest for that, wouldn’t we?” Cordy asked.   
“Ah, so you came to me looking for a prophecy! I’ll check it out,” Blair said.    
She wiped the objects off the alter, but kept three of them to herself.   
 “Three for the Big Three…” she muttered. “And an item of interest.”   
She yanked Max's little league baseball bat onto the table, but it no longer looked like the small bat it had been before. Now, it looked more like a club, made of black iron and sucking in the light surrounding it.   
 “That’s not my bat,” Max insisted. Cordy shrugged.   
“You had it in your hand when you came here. It may have looked different because of the Mist. That’s a magical shroud that keeps mortals from seeing godly things as they truly are,” she said.  
 “And I’m supposed to kill monsters with that?”   
 “Yeah, but not for awhile. We’ll train you first. Though a baseball bat normally isn’t a weapon choice…” Her voice faded.   
“Ok… are those Dungeons and Dragons dice?” Max asked Blair, who was shaking the three objects in her hands.   
 “Yep!” she said cheerfully. “They’re WAY better than reading entrails like we used to do here.”   
Zoey looked like she wanted to puke.  
 Blair chucked the dice at the baseball bat on the alter. The dice scattered, streaming black smoke from the iron. The dice began melting, as if the touch of the iron was too much for them. Max and Zoey looked on in awe. Even Cordy looked wary.   
“Is it supposed to do that?” Max asked, but Blair shushed them.    
The melted dice slid down the alter, forming words as residue held to some of the stone.  
 “Death’s children must go east   
To their home, the camp of Greece.   
Save the camp and mend the gods,   
‘Less their fate be e’er at odds.”   
Blair read aloud what the others could see. They were silent for a few moments. By the puzzled looks on everyone’s faces, Max could tell everyone was in the same boat as him.   
“So what does it mean?” Max said. “Is that a prophecy about us?”   
“It appears so,” said Blair, resting her elbows on the table and her head between her hands. “‘Death’s children’ must refer to you guys. I don’t think Camp Half-Blood had any children of Hades right now, do they, Cordy?”   
“I don't think so either. But why would Camp Half-Blood be their home if they’re Roman?” Cordy said.   
“I can’t unscramble the meanings of Apollo’s words. I just invoke them. But my best guess is they’re headed to the Greek camp, and there's more in store for them there,” Blair said.   
“Is that your interpretation then? That these two should go on the quest to Camp Half-Blood?” Cordy confirmed.   
“It is, yes.”   
Max didn't even pretend to understand what they were talking about. His interpretation of the prophecy was that he and Zoey had a whole lot more trouble coming to them.   
“What’s Camp Half-Blood?” asked Zoey. She seemed a lot more curious about what was going on than he was.  
 “Camp Half-Blood is another camp for demigods like us. Half-blood is the colloquial terms for demigod. It’s in New York, and it’s for kids of the Greek gods instead of the Roman gods,” Cordy said.   
 “You mean all the gods in mythology exist?” Max balked. “Even, like Norse gods? And Aztec gods?”   
“We don't talk about the Aztec gods, but yes, even them.”   
Max felt like he was going to pass out.  
 “We’ll need to get them there quickly,” Cordy said, partly to Blair and partly to herself. “They don't have enough training to go there on their own. I guess we could call their Zeus kid?”   
“You have fun talking to him because I’m certainly not going to,” Blair said, cleaning up her supplies and smirking at Cordy. Cordy groaned.   
 “He’s so dramatic… I think shadow travel is out of the question until they can hone their powers too. We can probably work together with the camp to get them enough funds to fly there. Let's hope Jupiter, er, Zeus, doesn't blast them out of the sky.”   
“What?!” Max and Zoey said.   

Within hours, a flight was scheduled for the two children of Pluto to go out to New York. Max hoped they wouldn't get blasted out of the sky, and as he went to bed in the barracks, Zoey on the bunk beside him, for the first time in his life, he prayed.  He prayed to Pluto, hoping that the god would hear him. He asked him to protect Zoey, to save their mom in the underworld, and to help them out of whatever prophecy they’d gotten themselves into. When he didn't feel a response, he slowly fell asleep.  


	3. Janus and Dionysus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirits are gods, if you couldn't tell! Also, Spender and Zarei are the co-counselors of the Apollo cabin. This'll be fun.  
> We'll finally get to meet the Pnat characters in the next chapter!

Max and Zoey got up early the next morning with the rest of the demigods. The siblings were not going into battle, but they watched as the others prepared. It scared Max how young some of the recruits were. Some were as young as Zoey.   
While the others went to have breakfast, Max and Zoey made for the Jupiter Optimus Maximus again to meet Cordy. She had arranged their trip, and she was talking to Blair as the siblings approached. Cordy beamed at them.   
“I hope you guys slept well. We had to change some plans real quick. We actually got hold of safer way for you to travel,” she said.   
“One that doesn't involve us getting blasted out of the sky?” Max gurumbled.   
“Exactly!” Cordy said. “Pluto managed to convince Janus to get you to Camp Half-Blood. It’ll be quicker and easier.”   
“Who’s Janus?” Zoey asked.   
“He’s the god of doorways,” Cordy explained. “He should be here any minute, if Blair’s dream was correct.”  
 “We're trusting another dream?” Max said, appalled.    
“Hey, dude, don’t insult the gods! They give us directions in weird ways!” Blair said.  
 “Like with D and D dice?”   
“Yeah, pretty much.”   
Suddenly, a rectangular portal appeared in the center of the temple. The swirling red and gold mass stretched apart as a creature stepped stumbled out of it. “Goodness, I still trip on doormats after all these millenia,” it said, though it didn't have a mouth. Or a face. In fact, its entire head was a doorknob.   
The doorknob-faced creature was tall and broad, wearing a hat and coat of maroon with brass accents that suggested it was an everyday doorman. Its spindly hands and fingers directed their way towards Cordy.   
 “Hello, young mistress, I am Janus,” he said brightly.   
“Lord Janus, a pleasure to meet you,” Cordy said beaming. “I am Concordia, the Praetor of Camp Jupiter. This is Blair, our auger, and these two are Max and Zoey, son and daughter of Pluto.”  
 “Ah, yes, how do you do?” Janus said, extending his hands toward the siblings.   
They gently shook hands with him.   
“Now, Pluto told me you two needed a way to Camp Half-Blood?” continued Janus. “A shame, really. You can’t worship me there since I don’t have a Greek counterpart, though sometimes I help Iris with her messages. Perhaps you could find a way to honor me there, though…”   
Cordy looked like she wanted to interrupt his rambling but was too afraid to insult the god. The god took notice.    
“Oh, is there something you would like to say?” he asked.   
“Um, yes, actually. Max and Zoey need to leave as fast as possible. Are you both ready?” she said, looking at them.   
Max nodded tersely, baseball bat in hand. Zoey took Max’s hand and nodded as well.   
“Very good, then. Let’s see…” said Janus. He shook out his body, and dust puffed through the front of his coat. He knocked on his chest, as if asking permission to enter, then opened up the front flap in his coat. In it was a portal to a gateway that read “Camp Half-Blood”.   
 “On you go, then. Step right through,” said Janus, holding open the flap.  
 Zoey bit her lip and looked at Max. Max took this as a signal to go first. He held his bat slightly in front of him, as if to ward off any evil, took a deep breath, and stepped into the coat flap. He instantly felt lightheaded. It was the opposite of shadow-travel, and the bright light blinded him as he stepped through, but he kept walking. He stumbled over the bottom of Janus’ coat and face-planted under the Camp Half-Blood sign. Zoey soon followed, though she didn’t face-plant. She helped Max up, and they gaped at the new camp.   
Camp Jupiter was so uptight and orderly. Camp Half-Blood was the exact opposite.   
 Instead of barracks and temples, there were cabins and a large mansion that looked like the check-in area. A lake spread out in the backdrop. There was an archery range, horse stables, a fire pit, and an… obstacle course? Was that lava flowing down it?   
“I hope to see you kids later!” Janus yelled through his portal.    
Max and Zoey barely had a chance to say thank you before the portal closed, leaving them trapped in this new camp. They looked at each other. Zoey stuck her chin out bravely. “Let’s go,” she said, and Max lead the way to the mansion.    
They thanked the high heavens (or was it Olympus, now?) that the mansion was fairly close to the entrance. Few people were there to see them and stare at them weirdly. One was a boy with red-dyed hair. He gave them a cheeky grin as they knocked on the door to the big mansion.   
“I’m out here!” yelled a gruff voice around the side of the mansion.  Max and Zoey walked towards the voice and gaped. In front of them was a giant, monkey-looking man.   
Max supposed it was rude to say someone looked like an monkey, but it was true. He had large ears, a flat nose, and that didn’t even cover the fact that the guy had a TAIL. His long, white hair (splattered with black tips) was gelled back over his shoulders, and the point of his lean tail matched. He was oddly muscular and was covered in jewelry and odd bits of armor. He raised an eyebrow at the kids.   
“Who are you guys? Do you go to camp here?” He asked, putting his face on his fist and leering at them.   
 “Um, I think we’re supposed to? We’re demigods,” said Max. He didn’t like the looks of this guy.   
“What are your names, demigods?” asked the man.   
“I’m Max Puckett, and this is Zoey Puckett.”   
“Mack and Zuri. I like it,” said the man. “Whose kids are you?”   
“Pluto,” said Zoey. The monkey man raised both eyebrows at this.   
 “Sounds like you guys are way away from home. I should probably fix that, but I don’t feel like it.”  
 “But we were told we were supposed to come here!” Max said. The man opened his mouth, when a voice rang out.   
“It’s ok! They’re supposed to be here!”  A teen with blond hair and dark sunglasses ran up to the mansion’s patio and grinned at them, still panting from his run.    
“We spoke with Camp Jupiter last night, Lord Dionysus. They were instructed to come here by the wise words of Apollo,” said the teen.    
“Really? That’s weird,” said Dionysus. He shrugged. “Whatever. Cool with me. Go show them around, Mick.”   
“It would be my honor, sir.”   
“Hey!” another voice hollered. A teen with a hijab over her head ran up to them and began shouting at the blond boy. “We agreed that I could give the tour!”   
“Yes, but as you just heard, Mina, Lord Dionysus said that I could do it. Besides, you have patients to attend to-“   
“Shut up, Rick,” said Mina. She faced Dionysus and gave him a smile. “Rick and I agreed that I would get to lead the tour this time. So if you wouldn’t mind giving Rick something else to do-“   
“You can both give the tour. Two kids, two guides. I’m good at giving directions,” Dionysus said, lounging back in his chair.  The two teens glared at each other, but seemed to think better of physically fighting for the chance to show around the newbies. Mina snapped out of their silent argument first, and smiled at Max and Zoey.   
“If you’ll follow me-“  
 “And me!” said Rick, elbowing Mina.   
“We’ll show you around Camp Half-Blood. It’s a lot better than Camp Jupiter, anyhow. You’ll love it here!”   
“The only thing that could use improvement would be Mina’s attitude, but I’m sure you’ll love the rest-“   
“Can it, Rick!”  
 The two tugged on Max and Zoey’s arms and began to lead them around the camp.   


	4. The Camp Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spender and Zarei argue, some questions are answered, and an angsty scene

“Those are the strawberry fields over there,” Mina said. “That’s how we make enough money to fund our activities here.”  
 “What are those?” Zoey asked, pointing to the creatures tending to the plants and playing music.   
“Those are satyrs,” Rick chimed in. “They help nurture the plant life around here. They have a way with wildlife.”  
 “They are also protectors,” Mina said, shoving Rick away from Zoey. “They go undercover in schools and stuff to find new half-bloods.”  
 “Why didn’t a satyr find us?” Max said. He felt a sudden surge of hatred towards the creatures who could have saved his mother.   
“I think the Roman equivalent is a ‘fawn’, and we don’t know much about their roles,” Mina said.   
“Yeah!” said Rick. “A lot of the Roman thinking still evades us.”   
“Evades YOU, more like!”  
 “Hey, what’s over there?” Max said, breaking up the impending fight. He pointed in a random direction.    
“The volleyball courts are there, and so is the arts and crafts cabin-“ said Mina.  
 “If you keep going, you’ll see the amphitheater and the climbing wall. And yes,” said Rick. “That is lava flowing down the side. It’s a great way to challenge your skills!”  
 “Rick’s been burned, what, five times?” Mina smirked.    
“Don’t act like you haven’t been knocked off three times by the boulders!” Rick hissed.  
 Zoey, who had been paying more attention to the river flowing through camp, suddenly jumped back.   
 “There are faces in there!” she cried.    
“Oh, those are just the naiads,” Rick said. “They’re pretty friendly, but sometimes they tip your canoe over. At least, that’s what Mina SAYS happens-“   
“I didn’t knock over your canoe, and you know it, you-“  
 Mina and Rick started squabbling again, and Zoey broke the argument up on purpose this time.   
“Who are your godly parents?” she asked.  
 “Apollo,” they said at the same time, getting their heads back in the game.   
 “So you guys are brother and sister?”   
“Only half!” they said, again at the same time.   
 “Same father, different mother,” Mina clarified.    
“Same as the rest of the people in our cabin,” Rick said, nodding.   
The confusion of Zoey and Max must have showed. Rick took the lead in leading the four of them over a bridge spanning a lake in the middle of camp, and began to talk again.   
“At Camp Half-Blood, we’re separated by our godly parents, so all of our siblings and half-siblings live together,” he explained. “Mina and I are head co-counselors of the Apollo cabin. Each cabin has a head counselor, usually the oldest or most experienced person there. No one in our cabin has ever been on a quest, so since Mina and I are the oldest, we got the job.”  
 “They said we had to go on a quest to come here,” Max said. “Does that mean we could be the counselors of the Pluto cabin?”   
“First,” Mina said before Rick could interrupt. “Pluto is a Roman god. Since we’re a Greek camp, we follow his Greek counterpart, Hades. So you guys will be in the Hades cabin.”   
“And right now,” said Rick. “You two are the only ones in there! We haven’t seen any Hades kids, er, Pluto kids, in decades. So if you’re sort of the only representatives of your cabin.”   
Rick lead them into the middle of the horseshoe formed by the cabins.   
 “As you’ll see, the cabins surround a hearth. This is to honor Hestia, the goddess of the home and of the hearth,” said Rick.   
“Zeus’ and Hera’s cabins are at the top there,” Mina said, pointing. “We only have one Zeus kid for the same reason that you guys are the only Pluto kids. The agreement between the Big Three to stop having mortal kids worked, sort of. So we don’t see many of you guys anymore.”   
“Hera is dutifully married to her husband, so she never has any mortal children. That would require cheating on her husband. The cabin is there out of respect for the queen of the gods,” Rick added.   
“On Zeus’ side of the horseshoe, we have the cabins for Poseidon, Ares, Apollo-“   
“The best cabin!”  
 “Shut up, Rick! Continuing on, we also have the Hephaestus and Hermes cabins lining that side,” said Mina.  
 “On Hera’s side, we have the cabins for Demeter, Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Dionysus,” said Rick. “Dionysus is the god you saw at the Big House. He was punished by Zeus to oversee the camp.”   
“What’d he do?” asked Zoey.   
“He tried to, uh, go after an off-limits nymph,” Rick said, attempting to sidestep the subject for Zoey’s young ears.  
 “Why does he look like that if he’s a god?” Max asked. “Couldn’t he look like, I don’t know, Leonardo DiCaprio or someone?”  
 “Gods can choose whatever forms they like. I think Dionysus just likes that form. It makes him look macho. Also, it tends to freak out other people. He is the god of madness, after all,” Mina said.  
 “We met Janus on our way here,” said Zoey. “He looked like a doorman with a doorknob for a face.”   
“Some gods choose minimalist designs,” Mina said, shrugging. “I don’t understand them all the time.”   
“Continuing with the cabins,” Rick jumped in. “Artemis is a virgin goddess, so the cabin is mostly for respect. Her followers stay here when they visit.”   
Rick pointed to the cabins closer to the water at the bottom of the hill.    
“That branch of cabins over there holds the Hades, Iris, Hypnos, and Nemesis cabins, and the other branch holds the Nike, Hebe, Tyche, and Hecate cabins,” he said.   
“So we’ll be in that branch over there?” asked Max, pointing.   
“Yeah, do you want to check it out? We can drop off your bat there,” said Mina.  
 “Just watch out for some of the Hermes kids,” Rick warned. “Especially Johnny’s gang. They’re kind of wild. They like to pull pranks, steal other kids stuff, the usual. I think it’s because so many of them are unclaimed, and they want to take out their pent-up rage about that on all of us instead of facing it themselves.”  
 “You’re just salty because they keep stealing your sunglasses,” Mina said, smirking.    
“They make me look cool! And I didn’t even do anything to those kids! They’re just crazy.”   
“What do you mean they’re ‘unclaimed’?” Max asked before the two could get into it again.   
“Their godly parents haven’t claimed them as their kids, and they can’t be properly put into a cabin if they aren’t claimed. Since Hermes is the god of travelers, it’s his cabin we put all the stray campers in until they’re claimed,” Mina explained.    
The group had slowly been making its way toward the Hades cabin. The co-counselors quieted as they approached the cabin, as if they were afraid it would come alive and eat them.    
Max wouldn’t be surprised if it did. The cabin was solid black, as if made of obsidian, and a skull hung on the doorway. Torches filled with green fire burned at the entrance. It certainly looked like the entrance to the Underworld.   
“We don’t really enter each others’ cabins too often,” said Rick.    
“Yeah, exactly,” Mina said. For once, the two were in agreement. “We’ll let you guys get settled, and then we’ll come back and get you for lunch. Does that sound cool to you guys?”  
 “Uh, sure-“ Max said, and Mina and Rick had high-tailed it out of there as quickly as they could.   
Max saw Zoey standing in front of the cabin. She was afraid, he could tell, but it was a determined kind of afraid. He grabbed her hand, and they walked in together.  The beds were shaped like coffins. There were six, three on the left side and three on the right, and the pillows and sheets were blood red. The green torches lined the walls all the way to an alter, filled with jewels and bones, on the other side of the cabin.  
 Zoey sat on the middle bed on the right. She looked at the alter.   
 “I feel like we’re in one of those death cults that mom used to joke about,” she said.   
Max sat down on the opposite bed, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the bed. Sleeping in a coffin didn’t sound like a great idea to him. It made him feel closer to death, as if he were gift wrapped, waiting for something to get him in his sleep.  
 “Do you think we use that to pray?” Zoey asked, still gazing at the alter. “Like, to Dad? Do you think he’d answer?”   
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Max said quietly. “What good could Dad do us now?”  
 “The prophecy said we have to ‘save the camp and mend the gods’. Maybe he can help us do that?” Zoey suggested.   
 Max shrugged.    
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s done enough for us. It’s his fault that mom’s gone and that we’re in this situation. We wouldn’t even have a prophecy to worry about if it weren’t for him.”  
 “Then the least he could do is get us out of this situation,” said Zoey with a quiet anger. “He HAS to-“  
 “Yeah, well, it’s not like he did anything before all of this happened. He left before you were born, and he never came back. Maybe you still have hope that he’ll help us, but I’ve grown to live without him,” said Max, lightning flashes of anger delivering his words. “And I think you’ll learn soon enough, too.”   
Zoey didn’t say anything. She looked like she wanted to cry, lay down and go to sleep. Instead, she got up off her coffin bed and went to the alter. She awkwardly got down on her knees and knelt her head in silent prayer.    
Max laid down on his bed and faced away from her. He hadn’t allowed himself to cry since his mother died, and he wouldn’t cry now. After a restless night in the barracks last night, all he needed right now was a nice nap…


	5. Johnny and the Gang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter because the next part doesn't fit in the same chapter real well

Max dreamed of his mother.   
Her red hair was swept back, and she looked younger, less stressed. A crown of onyx and diamonds glittered on her head. She laughed at something that had been said, and Max’s dream panned out to reveal that she was with his father, Pluto.  
 Anger flared inside Max’s head, and his parents reacted to it, as if sensing his ire. Pluto raised his eyebrows, realizing that Max was with them.   
 “Max!” he said, beaming.   
 “Is he here?” his mother whispered. “I can’t see-“  
 “He’s dreaming. Talk to him while you can,” Pluto told her.    
“Max, honey, I’m so sorry. I’m not gone forever. I promise, as soon as things clear up, I’ll be right back with you-” she said, tears welling in her eyes.   
“Max,” Pluto said, suddenly urgent, as if he could see what little time they had left to talk. “Alliances are forming between the monsters of our worlds. They’re trying to invade the camp through the Labyrinth. Your underground powers…”   
But his parents’ faces went fuzzy, and Max took one last look at his mother before waking up in the Hades cabin.  
  Max felt his heart beating quickly as he got up from his nap. Zoey was no longer at the alter, but resting on her back on her bunk. Max couldn’t bear the thought of the two of them stuck in this cabin of death, so he got up and walked over to her bed.   
“I’m gonna head out. Do you wanna come with?” he asked her.   
“Shouldn’t we wait for Rick and Mina?” Zoey asked back.   
 “I don’t want to stay in here until lunch. I’m gonna walk around and check things out.”  
 “That’s cool. I just need some time to… figure some stuff out,” Zoey said, and she turned onto her side on the bed, adjusting to a comfortable position. Max understood, so he turned, grabbed his bat, and walked out into the sun.   
The Hades cabin was WAY too dark. The sun in the heat of summer glinted off his baseball bat, blinding him long enough for someone to come by and yank the hat he was wearing over his head.   
“Heyo, new kid!” said the red-haired punk he had seen on the way in. “Why you scrounging around the Hades cabin? The Hermes cabin is where the fun is!”  
 “What’s your problem?” Max asked, shoving his hat back into place.  
 Now that he could see clearly, he saw that the red-haired boy was flanked by three other kids. One was lean and had a scar covering half his face. Another was small and wore a green hoodie, even in this heat. The last one was built like a freight train, but had a small head. All four of them seemed too cocky for their own good.   
“You don’t seem to know the food chain here, new kid,” said the red-haired boy, grinning. “I’m Johnny, and me and the boys will be personally teaching you to fight monsters. Rule number one is: Always be prepared for a fight. And you look like you’ve been caught a little off guard. So here’s another tip-“   
Johnny made a step towards Max. Max threw up his baseball bat in front of him.  
 “Look, guys, I don’t want any trouble-“ Max said, but his voice cut out when Johnny and the others gasped. “What, you’re afraid of a little league-“  
 But the baseball bat wasn’t a bat anymore. Now, Max clutched a short, dark sword. He immediately stopped pointing it at Johnny.  Where the heck had a sword come from? Max thought. But the second he pulled it to his side, the sword transformed itself into a bat. Johnny shook his head.   
“Nice trick,” Johnny said. “You can control the Mist. Why don’t we take this fight to the arena this afternoon? Then we’ll both have our weapons.”   
The threat in Johnny’s voice was not convincing as he continued to watch the bat warily. Max’s hand trembled.   
 “Dude, I thought this was a regular baseball bat! I didn’t mean to- I mean, I had no idea-“ Max stuttered.   
 Suddenly, the ground shuddered. It began to twist in between Johnny’s gang and Max until it formed a gaping rift between the two them. Max’s first thought was that Verminus had returned to finish him and his sister off. He turned to go back into the cabin, only to see that Zoey had stepped out. A whirl of darkness surrounded her, and she was crying as she saw the ground split in two.   
Moans began to lift from the crack between Max and Johnny’s gang. Wisps of living darkness began to emerge, clawing at the ground like zombies. They inched closer to Johnny and his comrades. The four of them were unfreezing from their shock, and Johnny shoved his friends back, telling them to go get Dionysus while he held the demons off.  Max stumbled back, straight into Zoey. The two of them fell back, and as suddenly as it had started, the crack sealed itself, taking the moaning spirits with it.  Max helped Zoey up, using his body as a shield in case the creatures came back. All around him, gems and precious metals glittered as if the ground had upheaved them like it had the spirits. Johnny and his group gaped. None of them, Max saw, had run to get the camp director.   
Johnny glared at him, his sister, his sword, the cabin and something clicked into place slowly in his mind.    
“Hades’ kids,” he hissed. He motioned for his friends to back up, and as they fled, Johnny yelled back, “We’ll get you back, new kids. Just wait!”   
Max was breathing heavily. Zoey, surprisingly, had calmed down enough to look at the small cracks in the earth, the only indicator of what had just happened.   
 “I think… I did that,” she said quietly.    
“What?” Max said, whirling around as she strode in front of him.  “I heard those kids yelling at you, and I got really scared. I thought they were going to hurt you,” she said. “And I just… felt it inside me. And then those things came up from the ground, but I couldn’t stop it, and it only stopped when you ran into me.”   
She looked at the loot surrounding them, all the shiny crystals that had appeared out of nowhere.    
“I think you did the same thing, almost. All of that gold and stuff, it’s around you, not me. It’s like something reacted to us.”   
Something inside Max knew she was right, even if he couldn’t comprehend it. They had POWERS. Like they were gods or something. Or demigods.  Suddenly, things began to make a lot more sense.    
He and Zoey were silent as Mina and Rick came back to check on them.  
 “Why are you- Wow, look at all this!” Rick said.    
Mina knelt down to examine some of the crystals breaking the surface of the earth.   
 “Pluto is known for wealth since it’s found underground,” she said. “You must be channeling your powers! Good for you!”  
 Neither Zoey nor Max found it necessary to talk about the incident that had just happened, so they just nodded.  But in the back of his mind, Max began formulating a plan. If Zoey could raise the dead, then so could he. And if he could target which dead he raised, he might be able to get his mother back.


	6. The Mess Hall Gossip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Suzy and comrades!

Mina and Rick lead the two to the mess hall for lunch. In it were twenty tables set up. Some were completely vacant, while others were full to bulging with campers. At the head of the mess hall was a much larger table, where Dionysus was lounging and eating.  
 As soon as they entered, Max and Zoey felt the stares on them. News of their arrival must have traveled quickly. No one tried to hide their fear as they watched the children of Hades follow the Apollo counselors to a table. One boy, who sat alone at a table, watched them with curiosity instead, and smiled when Max met his gaze.   
“This is the Hades table,” Mina said. Max was well aware that everybody in the mess hall could hear her and that they had stopped talking to do so. “Even though you’re children of Pluto, you’ll still eat here.”  
 “You can eat with us if you want, though!” Rick said. “After the Battle of New York, everyone thought separating our eating by our godly parents was dumb, so we switch tables occasionally.”  
 “Yeah, especially if we want to get rid of our ANNOYING SIBLINGS,” Mina said, not trying to hide her glare at Rick.   
“Yeah, so if you want Mina to leave while I sit with you, that’s totally cool!” Rick said, glaring back at her.  The two looked like they wanted to slap each other, but another voice broke their bickering.   
 “Actually, we’d like to sit with them,” a girl with blonde hair said, smiling brightly. Behind her were two boys, one who looked too uptight and one who looked not uptight enough. The girl faced Max and Zoey.   
“I’m Suzy, daughter of Hermes,” she said. “This is Dimitri, a son of Hermes and my half-brother-“   
 The laid-back kid gave him a peace sign.  
“-and this is Collin, a son of Athena.”  
 The other kid waved.   
“Hi, I’m-“   
“Max, of course, son of Pluto. And Zoey, right? Your sister, also a daughter of Pluto.” Max didn’t bother to ask why she knew them. It seemed the whole camp knew at this point. “You can sit with us at the Hermes table, if you want,” she said sweetly.   
Max glanced over her shoulder. The Hermes table was overflowing with kids, many of who were probably unclaimed. Max saw Johnny among the kids who were sitting there, and when their gazes met, Johnny slid his finger across his throat. So that was a no.   
“Um, maybe you can sit with us here?” Max asked. “There’s more… room.” Not to mention less death.  
 “Alright!” Suzy looked a bit scared to sit at the Hades table, but braced herself and sat down. She seemed surprised she didn’t burst into flames.  Mina and Rick took this as their cue to leave and waved as they walked away to the full Apollo table. Max and Zoey waved politely back.   
As they sat down at their table, the tabletop suddenly exploded with food. It was like Hogwarts, only everything was camp food. Hamburgers, ribs, grilled cheese, and bug juice separated Max and Zoey from the three friends they had just made. Suzy, Dimitri, and Collin began to pile food onto their plates, so Max and Zoey followed. Just as Zoey started to dig in, Suzy grabbed her arm to stop her.   
 “We have to offer our sacrifices first!” Suzy said. “Whatever food you find most appealing, you throw it into the fire over there.”   
She pointed to the giant hearth in the middle of the mess hall.  “You say a little prayer and stuff as you throw your food in. It’s a way to thank the gods for all they’ve done for us,” Suzy explained.  Already, kids were getting up from their seats and throwing food into the fire, with murmured words like “For Ares, for strength on the climbing wall” or “For Athena, may we have the best strategy for Capture the Flag tonight”.   
Suzy lead the group from the Hades table to the fire. She threw half a hamburger into the fire, muttering “For Hermes, may we help our new friends”.   
 Dimitri whispered to Max, “Don’t worry about Suzy. She gets pretty crazy, but we can handle it.”  
 Max nodded as Suzy flashed him a smile and waited for the rest of them to throw food into the pyre. When Max got to the fire, he threw a rib into it.  “For Pluto,” he said. “Keep Mom safe in the underworld.”  For now.  
The group turned to go back to the Hades table, when Suzy bumped into someone.   
“Oh, sorry, Suzy!” said the girl had bumped into.   
Suzy just glared at the girl, who continued walking and sat at another table with a friend who wore glasses. Suzy continued to stare down the girl until she almost crashed into the Hades table.   
“What’s up with that?” Max asked.   
Suzy got a manic glint in her eye.  
 “You shouldn’t have asked, Max!” Collin said nervously. “That’s worse than opening Pandora’s box-“   
“Last year,” Suzy started dramatically. “That girl, Isabel, was chosen to go on a quest. She took her best friend, Ed, and the Zeus kid over there.”   
Suzy flicked her fork in the direction of the boy who Max had noticed was alone earlier.  
 “But that quest was supposed to be MINE,” she snarled softly. “The Oracle wasn’t clear enough, so Dionysus chose her because she’s a daughter of Ares. She’s just some girl who can swing a sword. She’s nothing special.”   
Suzy glowered at Isabel again, who was laughing at something her friend Ed said.   
 “Anyway, long story short, they came back to Camp Half-Blood without even finishing the quest. Something about a cyclops. They had some nasty burns and scratches, but that’s the point of a quest! It’s succeed or die!”  
 “They were eleven years old, Suzy,” Collin said. “So?” she snapped back. “I was only eleven, and I could have done it. We could have done it. Don’t cut them any slack. Anyway, Oracle got all messed up after that, and the Zeus kid won’t even speak to Isabel and Ed anymore. It was that bad.”  
 “Did the same thing happen to Mina and Rick?” Zoey asked, looking over at the Apollo counselors, who were now arguing over who got the last of the potato chips.    
“Not really,” Suzy said, as Dimitri calmed her down. “When they first came here, they accidentally trespassed on some of Hephaestus’ sacred grounds. They don’t talk about it, but whatever happened made them hate each other. They were made co-counselors because if only one of them got the job, the other would go ballistic. I’m honestly surprised they even get anything done. At least we’re going against them in Capture the Flag tonight. Last time with them was a disaster-“  
 “What’s Capture the Flag?” asked Max.  
 Suzy grinned.    
“It’s a game where we battle each other for a flag.”  
 “Like, with weapons?” Max asked.    
“Yep.”   
Johnny was gonna have a field day with him, Max thought.   
“Are we allowed to sit out of it?” Max groaned.    
“Why would you want to?” Suzy asked. “It’s the perfect practice for actual battle. Dimitri and I set up all the traps we can muster while Collin and the Athena cabin figure out a strategy. You guys should ally yourselves with us. As the only kids in the Hades cabin, you get to pick your comrades in arms as opposed to the counselors who do it for us.”   
“Oh, well, see… we have zero battle experience,” Max said. “Shouldn’t we train first?”  
 “We can train both of you up real quick this afternoon-!”   
“Wait, so Zoey has to do it too?” Max said, blanching.   
 “Of course! We’ve had kids younger than her battle before-“  
 “There’s no way I’m letting her-“  
 “I wanna fight, Max,” Zoey interrupted Max. Max gaped at her.  
 “But-“  
 “You know what I just did,” Zoey said calmly, referring to the death powers she used against Johnny. “I don’t want something to happen again and be defenseless. I wanna know how to fight.”   
“She won’t get hurt, Max,” Suzy said. “There are rules in place. No killing, no maiming. People generally abide by them.”  
 “‘Generally’?”  
 “Come one. You’re a demigod. Monsters are going to be all around us. And if she can’t fight…” Suzy trailed off. The implications of Zoey not being able to fight if something happened lingered in the air. Max nodded tersely, giving her the go ahead. Zoey beamed.  
 “Awesome!” Suzy said. “After lunch, we can show you to the arena. I think Walker is teaching the class today…”


	7. Isaac

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we get introduced to Isaac and his backstory!

Lunch didn’t taste as good as it would have if Max wasn’t facing imminent danger. After they’d cleared their plates, Suzy brought them to the training arena. She left them with an Ares kid named Walker (some kids only went by their last names for various reasons, Suzy said).   
Max’s bat/sword, Walker said, was the perfect fit for somebody his size, and he gave Zoey a training sword. He taught them how to correctly hold and handle their swords, as well as do some basic thrusts.   
“Once your in a real fight,” he said. “Your demigod instincts will kick in. Makes it easier, sometimes, to just throw you in, and see what happens.”  
 Max did not like the sound of that.   
Zoey got to keep her sword because Capture the Flag was going to begin in a few hours. As she practiced in the arena, Max went to get a drink of water, only to find the Zeus kid waiting for him.   
“Hey,” the kid said, smiling at him.   
 “Hey,” Max said, too tired from training to care why this kid was here. He grabbed a cup for water, and the boy held out his hand.   
“I’m Isaac. The other kid from the Big Three.”  
 “Oh, um… cool?”    
“Yeah, it is,” Isaac said. “Because we’re the more powerful demigods here. A lot of kids around here don’t even have powers. Athena kids, for example, are really smart, but is that really better in a fight than, say… weather powers?”   
Isaac waved a hand in front of him, and a storm cloud appeared. The miniature storm began to flash with lightning and thunder, and then started raining. Max jumped back.   
“What the-?”   
“You’re still pretty new, right?” Isaac asked.  
 “Yep, just started! Like, yesterday…”   
“I can teach you how to handle your powers.”   
This got Max’s attention.    
“Really? You have death powers, too? "  
“Well, not exactly,” Isaac said. “But I figure our powers don’t work too differently. I’m sure we could figure it out together. But in return, I’d like you to join our alliance in Capture the Flag.”  
 “What are the alliances?” Max asked. Isaac seemed friendly enough, but the fact that he was making this into a deal instead of a request…   
“There are two teams. I’m in the Zeus cabin, and I’m teamed up with Apollo, Dionysus, Hypnos, Aphrodite, Iris, Hecate, and Tyche.”  
 “Can you say that slower?” Max said, trying to remember which gods and goddesses did what.   
“Basically, we’re the team with cool powers. Everyone in our team has a godly power, and we use those powers to achieve victory! Or in this case, the other team’s flag.”   
“And who’s on the other team?”  
 “Ares, Hermes, Athena, Nike, Hebe, Hephaestus, and Demeter. Hephaestus and Demeter are the only ones on that side with powers, but it’s mostly just building stuff and flowers. They’re not very scary. Nike and Hebe will be at odds because two of their main players are in the middle of a huge fight, so there’s that. And we can come up with a strategy as good as any Athena member. So, the only teams we really need to worry about are their warriors, Ares and Hermes.” Isaac’s face darkened. “They’re key players are Isabel and Ed. They’re inseparable. So if we can break them up, get them to fight each other instead of us-“  
 “Woah, wait a second,” Max interrupted Isaac. “What are you suggesting? Get them to fight each other?”   
“Well, yeah. They’re good as a team and still pretty good as individuals. But if we can get them to force that energy on each other-“   
“Look, dude, I’m all for strategy, but I’m not ruining a friendship over a game,” Max said.  
 “Fine, but think about this: We could fight them instead. Us two superpowers against those two superpowers. We’d be heroes! We’d be unstoppable-“ Isaac said.  
 “Are you really getting this worked up over a game?” Max said. Isaac’s eyes flashed.   
“It’s not JUST a game. This is a chance for Isabel and Ed to finally respect me as-“   
“So me joining you isn’t just a game, is it? You want me to help you get revenge.” Max shook his head. “Look, I don’t know what happened on your quest, but I don’t want to get involved-“   
“Max, think about what we could do-“   
“I don’t want to hurt anyone!” Max yelled. “Get a grip before you do!”   
Isaac stepped back at Max’s words. His anger nearly collided with Max’s, but Isaac just ground his teeth and began walking away.   
“I don’t need you, anyway,” Isaac said. “You’ll help us one day. I know it.”   
As Isaac left, Zoey came up to join Max.   
“What’s his deal?” Zoey asked, grabbing a cup of water.   
“I don’t know,” Max said. “But I think we should join Suzy’s team for Capture the Flag.”

Isaac walked back to his cabin. Even the new kids, who were kids of the Big Three, didn’t want to be his friends! It was bad enough that everybody at camp only knew him as “that Zeus kid’.    
It hadn’t always been that way. Back when he, Isabel, and Ed were new at camp, they talked a lot. Ed and Isabel became popular because of their fightings skills, so Isaac became popular, even if no one really knew his name. When it came time for a quest, Isabel was a natural pick, as she was the leader of the group. She chose Ed and him to come with her. Isaac knew things were about to change for him for the better.  
 But then came the cyclopes in the caverns they were trekking through. Isaac winced just thinking about it.   
“Another son of Zeus,” the cyclopes had said. “Join me, brother. Think about what we could do! Do you really need these two demigods on your side when we are so much stronger?”   
Isaac actually had to think about it. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Ed and Isabel. But they had been so close in the Hermes cabin before they were claimed, Isabel for Ares and Ed for Hermes, and they often left Isaac out. He was popular, but nobody really knew him. What could he do without them?   
“I will show you the way to the Oracle’s power if you ally yourself with me,” the cyclopes had said.  
 Before Isabel or Ed could snap Isaac out of his stupor, the cyclopes had thrown a boulder at them. Only their screams made Isaac realize they wouldn’t be able to dodge the attack in time.   
He shot lightning at the boulder headed for Isabel and Ed. While they weren’t crushed, the explosion knocked them off their feet and the rock shards ripped into them. Isaac, furious that he had let his guard down, launched himself at the cyclopes. He enveloped the space between them in storm clouds, then, before the cyclopes could tell where he was, Isaac blasted it with lightning.    
The cyclopes turned into dust before it hit the ground. Grinning at his own success, Isaac turned, only to see his friends shuddering on the ground.  They were burned in several places, not to mention the fact that they had huge gashes all over their bodies from the rock.   
 “Guys,” Isaac said. He was afraid for his friends, but he had just saved them. “I did it! I beat the cyclopes by myself and saved us!”   
Isabel spat blood on the ground.    
“You wouldn’t have needed to if you hadn’t listened to it,” she said. “We could have helped you.”  
 “We had to see if the cyclopes was telling the truth!” Isaac said.   
“It was telling you to leave us behind.”  
 “It was showing me the way to the Oracle’s power!”   
“Isaac, it was lying!” Isabel spat at him. “It hurled a boulder at us the second you stopped to think about it.”   
“It doesn’t matter. I saved us-“  
 “It DOES matter because you nearly let us die to finish the quest yourself!” Isabel said, helping a moaning Ed get onto his feet. “Do we really mean that little to you?” “Well, it’s not like you ever thought much of me,” Isaac snarled. “Maybe I just wanted you guys to see how powerful I am without you guys as crutches-“  
 “‘Crutches’?” Isabel gaped. “We’ve done everything to help you-“   
“I don’t need your pity anymore,” Isaac said. “Maybe once we finish this quest-“   
“We can’t,” Isabel said simply. She looked down at Ed, who was breathing shallowly, his face pale. “We have to get Ed back to Camp Half-Blood. We don’t have any way to help him.”   
“Then I’ll finish the quest myself-“  
 “No, you won’t!” Isabel screamed. Ed jerked as she held him up. “This is MY quest, and I’m ordering us all back. Come on, let’s go.”   
At that point, Isaac had stopped talking to her and Ed. He had known he couldn’t finish the quest alone. They still argued occasionally over who had been the cause of the end of the quest, but neither side would back down. Without Isabel and Ed, Isaac’s name had drifted into oblivion, along with his popularity. He had thought that maybe he could be friends with these new kids, but clearly that wasn’t the case.   
 Isaac entered his cabin, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes, and shut the door.


	8. Capture the Flag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Isabel are introduced, and the plot starts to speed up

Before Max knew it, Capture the Flag was upon him and the other campers. He and Zoey were fitted with battle armor, and Max hoped they wouldn’t need it. Suzy came over to get them when they had finished dressing for the game.   
 “Awesome,” she said. “The goal of the game is to get the other team’s flag over our boundary line without being tagged. You can avoid being tagged by fighting your way around the tagger. We’ll probably pair you guys up with a seasoned player so you can figure out the first game…”   
Suzy trailed off as a girl came over to greet Max and Zoey. It was Isabel, the girl from before.   
“Hey, you guys are new, right?” Isabel asked, as if she didn’t already know.  
 “Yeah, this is our first game,” said Max.  
 “Cool! Do you mind if I show them around, Suzy?”  
 Suzy glared at Isabel and would have told her off had Dimitri not come.   
 “Collin needs us,” he said to her. “He wants to know our strategy for trap placement.”   
Suzy huffed, but smiled at Max and Zoey as she said goodbye to them for now. She threw one last dirty look at Isabel before leaving.   
Isabel knew Suzy hated her, but didn’t bother touching the matter. There was nothing she could do to solve it anytime soon. She turned to Max and his sister.  
 “Hi, I’m Isabel, daughter of Ares,” she said, holding out her hand. The two shook her hand. “Ed’s a son of Hermes, and he's around here somewhere…”  
 “I’m over here, Izzy!” someone shouted. A small boy with blond hair and glasses hurtled towards her.    
“Ed! Great timing! Did you have any luck with Cody and Jeff?” Isabel asked.  
 “No,” Ed said. “I feel like the other team sabotaged them, but I can’t figure out how.”   
“What happened?” Zoey asked.   
 “Two of our key players for Capture the Flag are Cody from Nike and Jeff from Hebe. Right now, Cody is giving Jeff the silent treatment. He says Jeff tried to kill him on the climbing wall, but Jeff says he doesn’t even remember going on the climbing wall today, let alone trying to kill Cody,” Ed explained.   
“Do you think the Hecate Cabin did something?” Isabel said, glaring at a group of kids who were practicing spells in a group for the game.   
“They don’t know enough magic to do something like that. Jeff thinks it might have been an eidolon, but there’s no way a monster could get in through the boundaries without us knowing,” Ed said.  
 Max vaguely remembered something in his dream about monsters… and alliances? They were coming through the Labyrinth, whatever that meant. He was going to ask Isabel and Ed about it, but the conversation had already shifted.  
 “There’s no way we can fix their friendship in half an hour,” Ed said, frowning. “We’ll just have to split them up.”   
“It looks like it,” Isabel said, biting her fingernail. She looked up and suddenly remembered she was talking to Max and Zoey.   
“Anyway, strategy,” she said. “The Hermes cabin is putting a bunch of traps around our flag, and in a couple other spots to throw off the other team. So, we’re going to put you in a non-trap area so that you don’t get hurt!”  
 Max was very happy about this.   
“Walker is the counselor of the Ares Cabin. He should be able to help-“   
“No, he can’t,” said an older girl, running up to talk to them.   
“This is Baxter, counselor of the Athena Cabin,” Isabel informed Max and Zoey.    
“Our spies on the other team told us Starchman and BL are teaming up to grab the flag. We’ll need all hands on deck for that,” Baxter told her.   
“Oh, gods,” Isabel groaned. “So that means-“   
“You, Ed, and Walker are defending tonight,” Baxter said. “I know you like offense, but-“  
 “No, it’s fine. That works best. Where did you put Cody and Jeff?”  
 “We’re sending two teams to try to grab their flag. They’re on opposite teams. Hopefully, they’ll be competitive against each other to grab the flag as fast as they can.”   
“Awesome. Where did you put these two?” Isabel said, pointing to the Pluto kids.    
“We’re putting them on defense, too. They can guard the Labyrinth entrance,” said Baxter.   
Something in Max’s mind told Max to tell Isabel about what had happened in his dream, that monsters were coming out of there. But he didn’t know how much he could trust his dream, and he didn’t want to bother worrying about anything else.   
“Is there anyone there to help them?” Isabel asked.  “No, they’re guarding alone. But we have teams within ear shot. We’re just hoping the others will be deterred by their presence and choose another route,” said Baxter.   
“Excellent,” Isabel said.    
The sun was dipping lower in the sky, and the sound of a horn rang out.   
 “Fifteen minutes,” Isabel said. “Spread our plan, and get people into position, Baxter.”  
 “Of course.”   
Isabel lead Max and Zoey quickly into the woods where Capture the Flag would take place. She left them by a large boulder, with a warning to avoid the crack at the back.   
 “It’ll take you into the Labyrinth,” she said. “I can’t explain it now, but it’s too dangerous to go in. As long as you stay up here, you’re good.”   
Then, she ran off to find Ed and Walker.  
 The woods were silent and dark as Max and Zoey stood on sentry duty. They heard another horn call, which must have signaled the start of the game. They waited.  

Isaac was on the offensive side, like usual. Weather powers made him good for that. At least his team remembered SOMETHING about him.    
He set a low fog around the border between the teams’ territories as his teammates silently jumped the river and bounded into enemy grounds.  Someone stumbled, and set off a trap. He heard a kid, presumably a Hermes kid, whoop in delight at their success. Frankly, it was a bad tactic to declare where you were, Isaac said. He stayed silent as he waited for the first round of fighting to begin. After that was in motion, he’d cross the river while everyone was distracted and steal the flag.   
His plan would have worked if Isabel and Ed hadn’t been the defenders in front of him. They quickly took out his team’s first offensive line right as Isaac began to move.  
 Isaac crossed the river swiftly and hid in the shadow of a tree. When he heard movement behind him, he turned only to get slammed in the chest with the hilt of a sword.   
“Nice try, Isaac,” Ed said. He reached out to tag the Zeus boy, but Isaac used his wind powers to fly back. He got up off the ground and pulled out his sword.   
 “Nice try, Ed,” he mocked. Instead of going to find the flag like he should have, Isaac stood his ground, trying to find the best way to take out Ed.   
 Isaac lashed out with lightning, aiming for the earth at Ed’s feet. Ed jumped back to avoid the attack, and Isaac lunged forward. He tore a gash in the Hermes boy’s shirt.   
 “Hey!” Ed said, pushing forward again with his sword hilt. “Are you trying to get me killed or what?”   
Isaac didn’t have time for small talk, nor did he have an answer to Ed’s question. He blasted Ed with wind, hoping to catch him off guard, but Ed planted his feet firmly on the ground.   
“Izzy!” he yelled. Isaac realized he didn’t have much time before it was two on one, so he blasted himself back with the wind, deeper into the forest, to look for the flag.  
 Isabel heard Ed’s call, saw Isaac’s outline against the forest light, and ran after him. Isaac could hear two people gaining on him, and realized that Isabel had joined the fray. He veered right and ended up getting cornered by the boulder by the Labyrinth’s entrance.   
 “Sorry, Isaac, but this is the end of the line,” Isabel said, grinning.  
 Isaac was furious. His plan had been foiled, by these two of all people. They just couldn’t let him win, could they? They couldn’t let him be the hero.   
In a fit of anger, lightning surged toward Ed and Isabel. They dodged it as thunder shook the boulder. But something besides thunder rocked the ground, and a roar ripped across the forest.   
Something leapt from the entrance to the Labyrinth. It bounded over Isaac and straight towards Isabel.  Ed screamed and dodged to his right, leaving Isabel still in the fray. She barely had time to put up her shield before the creature slammed into her. Her back hit the ground, her head hit something hard, and she was knocked unconscious.  
 Ed had barely gotten off the ground when Isaac shot lightning at the creature. The lightning blasted the creature off Isabel, who lay unmoving on the ground. The creature took flight and landed a short distance away, where six figures were scuffling.

  Nothing much had happened at the start of the game. Max could hear traps being set off around them, but no one bothered to come his way. Zoey was standing in a battle pose, ready for anything to come towards them. While Max was wary and kept his sword out, he mostly shuffled around.   
“Quit pacing!” Zoey whispered. “I can’t hear anything but you!”   
“You’re taking this too seriously,” he said back.  
 “I wanna be prepared, Max. Come on, this is good practice. Everyone says so.”   
Everyone else is also better trained in combat, Max thought. But he didn’t say that to Zoey.   
About ten minutes into the game, something big rustled to their left. Zoey faced it with her sword directly in front of her, and Max chose to do the same. He refused to let this game kill him or his sister.   
Max caught a glimmer of bright red hair before he realized what was happening.   
Johnny and his gang walked into the light surrounding the Labyrinth entrance. Their armor made them look bigger and tougher than they had been that afternoon at the Hades cabin.   
Zoey looked wary, but dropped her guard.   
 “They’re on our team,” she whispered to Max. “Hermes is in our alliance.”   
But Max didn’t let that fool him for an instant.    
“Keep you sword up,” he told Zoey.   
“You got better, Max,” Johnny said. “You were prepared for an attack this time. Let’s see if you can handle us.”  
 “Look, man, I’m sorry about what happened at the cabin,” Max said. “We didn’t mean for those ghosts to attack you.”   
“‘We’?” Johnny looked around and was stunned to see Zoey there, too. “You have a sister. Another kid of Pluto. Well, looks like you’re both in for some kicks.”  
 “Dude, seriously? Zoey's seven!”  
 Johnny seemed to consider this. His gang, while poised to follow his orders, seemed a little uncomfortable about attacking someone so young. Zoey stepped forward.   
“I’m the one who made those ghosts attack you,” she said bravely. “So you can fight me, but don’t fight Max.”  
 “Absolutely not,” Max said. He stepped in front of his sister. “You guys are pathetic if one mistake changes your perception of someone. And I’ll gladly fight you to keep my sister safe.”  
 Johnny stepped back. They’d attacked him before, but he had probably scared them into doing it. Sometimes harmless banter came off differently than he intended, especially if he felt like his turf was threatened… But now…  
 A roar shattered the silence of the night. Someone close by screamed, followed by the sound of something big hitting the ground.    
“What was that?” Johnny said, whirling to face the back of the rock where a bright blast of light shot out.   
“You don’t know?” Max said, grabbing his sister and shoving her behind him again.  
 “I’ve never heard anything like-“   
Something big careened over the rock and landed right between the two groups of half-bloods.   
Zoey screamed, and Max shoved her back, ordering her to run away and get help. Before Johnny could properly understand the situation, his demigod instincts kicked in. He threw his sword at the creature, which stuck into its side.    
“Friendship Fusion!” he yelled at his comrades, who quickly formed their signature offensive formation.  
 As the creature roared in pain and stepped into the light, Johnny could just make out what the creature was.    
“It’s a griffin!” he yelled. “Aim for the wings!”   
The griffin, now afraid of the giant form of the Friendship Fusion, skittered back, snapping its beak wildly. Max and Zoey, who had heard Johnny yell, stepped forward in a fluid motion on either side of the beast, and sliced off its wings. While it screeched in pain, the Friendship Fusion stepped forward to thrust swords from three angles, taking it out in one fell swoop. The griffin shuddered and collapsed into dust.   
The Friendship Fusion detangled itself, and Johnny took in the sight of Max and Zoey. They were shaking but unhurt. Johnny stepped forward. Max put his sword in between the two of them, but Johnny just stuck out his hand.  
 “Hey, man, I’m… I’m really sorry. I overreacted earlier. You didn’t deserve this,” Johnny said. “Can we try this again?”   
Max looked at Johnny suspiciously, but he transferred his sword to the other hand so he could shake Johnny’s hand. Zoey held out her hand, and Johnny shook it, too.  “Hey, I’m Johnny,” he said. “This here is Stephen, Ollie, and RJ.” He pointed to each them respectively. “And we’re all unclaimed-“   
“No, we’re not,“ RJ said. “Look!”   
They pointed above Johnny’s head.  
 A glowing black and red winged dagger had appeared over his head.  
 “It looks like you’ve been claimed by Nemesis,” said Ollie.  
 Johnny stood in awe. He couldn’t believe he’d finally been claimed. After all these years! But that meant…   
He looked worriedly at his friends.   
“Don’t worry about us,” RJ said. “We’ll still be friends, even if we're in different cabins now.”   
Johnny was glad that a loud whooping started right then because it gave him the chance to look away from his friends, who would have seen him with tears in his eyes.   
A big camper followed by another with bandages covering her entire body ran past them, carrying their flag.   
“Well, there’s goes our chances of winning,” said Stephen.   
The two campers with the flag jumped over the river, and a horn sounded, indicating the end of the game.   
“That big one is Starchman, son of Dionysus, and the bandaged one is Boss Leader, daughter of Hypnos,” Johnny said, watching Max and Zoey’s awestruck faces. “We don't know what the deal is with the bandages or her name, but BL is crazy powerful, so nobody really questions it.”   
Campers started appearing, grumbling, from their side of the woods, but one person, Mina, ran towards their side, with a gaunt expression on her face. The group looked behind them to find Ed and Isaac holding up Isabel, who still hadn’t regained consciousness. Johnny and his gang quickly offered to carry her back to camp while Mina did some quick diagnostics on her.   
When they got back to camp, Dionysus nodded at the mark above Johnny’s head, and it disappeared. He shouted at people to go to the campfire, so that they’d stop trying to catch a glimpse of Isabel, who was stirring. He escorted the group handling Isabel into the infirmary, and they disappeared inside while everybody else meandered to the campfire, completely unaware of what had just happened. 


	9. The Prophecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the plot gets going! (and yes, there is an endgame to this, I have everything planned out)
> 
> Sorry about not posting in awhile! I've been getting accustomed to college. I'm going to try to update more frequently, but we'll see. I really want to complete this story.

Discord ran rampant through the campers sitting around the bonfire, but it wasn’t the same sort of discord that had emanated from the Capture the Flag game. This was a cold, chaotic discord.  
Specific groups of campers got along fine enough, as long as they didn’t have to interact with anyone else. Johnny’s group huddled near most of the Hermes kids, who now shunned Johnny for his newly claimed status. For once, Suzy wasn’t trying to get in everybody’s business, though her ears were pricked for gossip. A boy with large, orange hair was sitting across from a dark-haired boy, while two girls tried to get them to speak with each other to no avail.   
Max was surprised by the lack of kinship between the campers, but he supposed with messy Greek/Roman history, it wasn’t hard to hold old grudges. The only two who looked remotely happy were the Apollo counselor Mina, who had come back from taking care of Isabel, and a black girl who was trying to hold Mina’s hand, though Mina kept blushing and kept her hands out of reach. Rick scowled at the two, but refocused and waved Max and Zoey over.  
“It’s too bad you made an alliance with the other team,” he said as they sat down. “That was one of the better matches, not to mention that our side won! You may want to rethink your allegiance.”   
He winked behind his sunglasses, which he still wore, even though it was night. Max didn’t know how to respond.  
“Why aren’t you sitting with your cabin mates?” Max blurted out.   
“Oh,” Rick frowned. “They… don’t need my expertise right now. I’ll be with them soon.”  
Max swore he saw a couple of the kids glare at Rick when he said that, but they kept up their own conversation.   
“Who’s with Mina?” Zoey asked. Rick shot another glare at Mina, who glared back. The black girl got Mina’s attention again, and the two laughed.  
“That’s Day. She’s the head counselor of the Aphrodite cabin,” Rick said, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses. “Mina insists we team up with her, but I have no idea why. Aphrodite kids are useless. All they care about is makeup.”  
Max saw Mina clench her fists. He knew she was listening, but she was too engrossed by Day to pick a fight.  
Max also saw Isaac across the fire, looking shaken up from earlier, but calmer. Isaac looked up as a shape moved in the distance, and Max followed his line of sight. Ed was attempting to help a heavily bandaged Isabel to the campfire, but even as she hobbled over, she shoved Ed to the side and continued on her own.  
“Izzy…” Max could barely hear Ed say over the buzz of people and the crackle of the fire. “I’m sorry…”  
“Look,” Isabel said, whirling around, though still stumbling. “The fact of the matter is that Isaac saved me. You didn’t. You should’ve, but you ran instead.”  
“There was a giant griffon!” Ed protested.   
“And yet, I stood my ground to defend you. Thanks for nothing.”  
Isabel limped to the other side of the fire where Ed couldn’t sit beside her. Ed looked heartbroken. He wiped his glasses and sat down near Max and Zoey. Rick didn’t look at him, and neither did anyone else. They were all too absorbed in their own little groups to pay attention to each other. Max was surprised that anyone was able to actually cooperate to play Capture the Flag. He was just about to ask Rick how it was possible, when something popped out of the fire with a high-pitched laugh.  
All the Athena kids screamed when they realized it was a huge spider. However, upon closer inspection by Max, it looked like it was made of paper. The origami spider skittered right to the edge of the fire, right in front of Max and Zoey, and gave them a sharp smile.   
“Boo!” it said.   
The Athena kids once again shrieked and hid behind their logs. The origami spider danced a little jig, cackling.   
“I love doing that!” it confided to Max, though it was loud enough that all the campers could hear it. “I love scaring the Athena kids! That’s why I take this form!”  
Mina and Rick, both realizing what the spider’s words implied, leaped in front of Max in order to be the first to welcome the deity into Camp Half-Blood.  
“Welcome-“  
“-to our camp!-“  
“-Excuse our misunderstanding-“  
“-but you are-?”  
“I am Hebe! Goddess of youth!” the spider said.  
“Ah, yes, Hebe! Of course!” Mina said.  
“What can we do for you?” Rick asked.  
“Actually, the question is, what can he-” Hebe pointed a leg at Johnny’s friend Stephen. “do for you!”  
When everyone looked confused (the most confused looking person was Stephen), Hebe laughed again.   
“I was sent by Apollo! He got the Oracle up and working again! So it’s time to claim some demigods!”  
Suddenly, marks appeared over Stephen, Ollie, and RJ. A glowing sun appeared over Stephen’s head, while a silver owl appeared above Ollie, and a caduceus hovered over R.J.’s head.  
“So here we’ve got an Apollo kid-“ Hebe kicked a leg out at Stephen. “-An Athena kid-“ She kicked another leg at Ollie. “And a Hermes kid!” She pointed a third leg at R.J. “But right now, I have a question for you, son of Apollo!”  
Hebe jumped up next to Stephen on his log and faced him.   
“Apollo has chosen you to be the next Oracle!” she said brightly. “But the choice is ultimately yours! Would you like to take on this daunting, life-altering-“  
“Yeah! Totally!” said Stephen. Hebe gazed at him with blank eyes.  
“Well, that was easy. Hey, Apollo! Give the kid his powers!” Hebe yelled at the sky.  
A large wind blew through the area, twisting the bonfire into a tower of flames. A scented tendril of smoke curled off the top of the tower and drifted down, until it gently whisked itself into Stephen’s face. He inhaled the smoke and sank into a stupor as his eyes rolled back. He slumped forward, and when he righted himself, he spoke with a mixture of his voice and that of an ancient power.  
“Son of Athena’s Labyrinth deep  
Holds the dangerous enemy’s keep.  
Death and thunder, tricks and war,  
Go in to defeat the sisters of lore.  
Daughter of love and twins of sun’s rays  
Head down to keep the fire at bay.  
Unclaimed daughters, victory, youth,  
Descend last to find the invisible truth.  
Fight the Labyrinth’s battle again,  
Or lose the gods, whose hearts cannot mend.”  
Slowly, Stephen’s eyes rolled back to normal, his face relaxed, and he began to breath normally again. He looked at the campers, all awestruck that he had just issued a new prophecy. He turned to Johnny.  
“What happened?” Stephen asked.  
“Dude, you just told us a prophecy,” Johnny said. “I mean, I think you did. It kinda sounded like one of your conspiracy theories-”  
“It appears we have a new Oracle AND a new prophecy,” said a loud voice. The campers whirled around to find Dionysus walking into the bonfire circle.   
“Dionysus! Long time, no see, eh?” Hebe said, fidgeting on her spindly legs.   
“Yeah, I’m still stuck here,” Dionysus scowled. “A hundred years of punishment is almost up though.”  
“So you better not add to it by chasing me!” Hebe chuckled. “I’m off to Olympus now that my work is done! See you later, crocodile!”  
In a flash of flames, Hebe the spider was gone.  
The crowd was silent. Dionysus raised an eyebrow.   
“Well, you heard the kid. Figure out who the prophecy’s talking about, and we’ll send ‘em on a quest.”  
The campers roared to life as Dionysus sat back and watched. Some looked excited, but the majority looked nervous. Suzy was scribbling down everything she could hear. Fighting began to break out between interpretations of the prophecy, and the chaos was only calmed when a voice spoke over the others.  
“Everybody! Please be quiet!”  
There was immediate silence. The Aphrodite counselor, Day, looked pleased with herself and her charmspeak, and gave the floor to Mina (and, by default, Rick, who couldn’t be upstaged by his sister).   
“So,” Mina began. “It looks like the prophecy is speaking in metaphors. Certain demigods will be grouped based on their godly parent. These groups will be sent into the Labyrinth.”  
Distressed mumbling broke out again. Max saw he wasn’t the only one confused as to what the Labyrinth was, but Rick stepped in to clarify.  
“The Labyrinth is a structure created by Daedalus, the ancient son of Athena. It’s underground and spans the entire world. Despite Daedalus’ recent death, it continues to grow, and it is still incredibly dangerous. Whoever takes this quest will have to be prepared to face the worst.”  
“Let’s start by figuring out who the prophecy is talking about,” Mina said. “What was the first stanza of the prophecy?”  
“Son of Athena’s Labyrinth deep/ Holds the dangerous enemy’s keep,” Suzy recited, looking down at her notes.   
“This is obviously referring to the Labyrinth and Daedalus,” said Rick.   
“But who’s the enemy?” Dimitri asked calmly.   
No one had an answer. Rick cleared his throat.  
“Whoever it is,” he said. “It has to be someone major. We haven’t had any big prophecies since the Titans and Gaea tried to take over. So be on your guard. They likely have spies everywhere. What’s the next line?”  
“Death and thunder, tricks and war,/ Go in to defeat the sisters of lore,” said Suzy.  
“Death and thunder obviously refer to children of Hades and Zeus,” said Dimitri.  
“And tricks and war are talking about Hermes and Ares,” said Collin matter-of-factly.  
“But that would imply that four people instead of three were going together!” a girl with a brunette braid said. “It’s safest to go in groups of three-“  
“But we’ll end up following the prophecy anyway,” said the dark-haired boy she was talking to earlier. “The key to victory is sticking to what it says. Even the Prophecy of Seven made exceptions to the rule about groups of three.”  
Mina nodded.   
“So, we have to decide: Who goes on the quest as representatives of those gods? We only have one child of Zeus, so he has to go,” she said.  
Isaac perked up at this. This was his chance! He could change things-  
“Isabel and Ed are from Ares and Hermes, and they’re our best shot as fighters, so I vote that they go,” said Mina.   
Murmurs of agreement followed. Isaac sank into his seat. He glared at Isabel, then Ed. Ed tried desperately to look at Isabel. Isabel ignored them both.  
“Which leaves our children of Pluto,” said Rick.   
Everyone turned to face Max and Zoey. Neither knew how to react.  
“We should keep to groups of four,” the girl from earlier said. “It’s safest, especially since the prophecy didn’t give us a specific number of people.”  
Mina nodded.   
“Max, Zoey, it’s up to you to decide who goes on the quest-“  
“I’m going!” Max said immediately.  
Zoey seemed to want to argue with this, but Max glanced at her. In that glance, she could sense all of the fear they had endured the past couple of days. Max couldn’t live watching his sister die. He had to protect her, and she had to let him. She nodded in agreement at his insistence to go on the quest.  
“Great,” said Rick. “So, Max, Isabel, Ed, and, uh-“  
“Isaac,” said Isaac, supplying his name.  
“Right, and Isaac will leave first thing tomorrow morning to go into the Labyrinth. That’s settled. What’s the next verse?”  
“Daughter of love and twins of sun’s rays / Head down to keep the fire at bay,” read Suzy.  
Rick seemed to pale a little at this, but Max guessed it was just caused by the light of the fire dying down.  
“So, we need a daughter of Aphrodite and twins from the Apollo cabin,” Mina said slowly. “We don’t have any sets of twins in our cabin, though. None of us are even the same age, aside from me and Ri-“  
Mina stopped. She and Rick stared at each other. Most of the campers groaned.   
“It looks like you two are our twins,” said Day lightly.   
Rick and Mina locked eyes and nodded at each other, accepting their roles in the quest.  
Day continued, “I’d like to volunteer as the daughter of Aphrodite.”  
“But you’re blind-“ Rick started.  
“Which will come in handy when we’re underground, and nobody can see anything because there isn’t any light,” Day said coolly. “I’m more capable than you think, Rick.”  
Rick made the smart move of keeping silent. Mina cleared her throat.  
“Day’s charmspeak is powerful. She’s my choice from the Aphrodite cabin, unless anyone else from there wants to volunteer?” she asked.  
The Aphrodite kids all shook their heads quickly.  
“So our group will be me, Mina, and Rick,” said Day, who correctly interpreted the silence as an absence of volunteers. Most campers didn’t look thrilled by this. Dionysus just looked slightly bemused.  
“What are the next lines?” Rick said, trying to change the subject.  
“Unclaimed daughters, victory, youth, / Descend last to find the invisible truth,” said Collin, reading over Suzy’s shoulder. Suzy smacked him with her writing pad.  
“Well, victory and youth refer to Nike and Hebe,” Rick said. “And our best fighters from those cabins are Cody and Jeff.”  
Everybody looked over at the dark-haired boy and the orange-haired boy who had been fighting earlier. The orange-haired boy looked pleadingly at the dark-haired boy, who appeared to be fighting a small internal battle. The latter boy sighed.  
“Fine, I’ll go with Jeff,” he said, indicating the other boy. “But only if Violet and Lisa are our ‘unclaimed daughters’.”  
Whispers erupted at this.   
“Are you sure you don’t want to pick anyone who’s, um-“  
Cody glared at Rick, who had spoken.  
“Violet and Lisa are just as capable as anyone else,” he said. “I’ll only go if they do.”  
“We need Cody on our side,” Day said, stepping in. “And Violet and Lisa know Cody and Jeff best. I think it’s best that they go together.”  
Everyone around the campfire begrudgingly agreed, though they wondered if Day wasn’t using a little charmspeak to get her way.  
“So it’s settled,” Mina said. “The first group to go is Isabel, Ed, Max, and, um,”  
“ISAAC.”  
“Yes, Isaac. Our second group is me, Day, and Rick. Our third group is Cody, Jeff, Violet, and Lisa. Are there any more questions-“  
“There’s still two lines of the prophecy left!” Suzy exclaimed. “Fight the Labyrinth’s battle again, / Or lose the gods, whose hearts cannot mend.”  
“It sounds similar to the prophecy we were given at Camp Jupiter,” Max said. “It said Zoey and I had to “save the camp and mend the gods’, whatever that means.”  
“Then you must have come to Camp Half-Blood for a reason,” said Mina, looking at him and Zoey. “Greek and Roman demigods don’t usually mix. The last time it happened, a lot of bad stuff went down.”  
“Speaking of bad stuff going down,” Dimitri spoke again. “The prophecy mentioned we had to ‘fight the Labyrinth’s battle again’. This is bigger than we thought. We’re going to war, guys.”  
The entire crowd went silent, contemplating the battle ahead.  
“We have to get ready, then,” Dionysus said, intervening. “Veterans, you know what the battle was like years ago. We’ll need you up to get the others up to speed. Gather your forces and make plans. You may be a bunch of wimps, but you’ve defended the camp before, and you can do it again.”  
Mina stepped forward after Dionysus spoke.  
“Head counselors, meet at the ping pong table in the Big House tomorrow morning. As much as we need to start strategizing for what lies ahead, we’ll need to be well rested. Is that clear?”  
Mumblings of ‘yes’ rustled through the campers.  
“Great,” she said. “Then let’s break up. Stay on your guard, but get some sleep.”  
Campers began getting up and, as wan and scared as they were, stood tall as they made their way back to the cabins. Dionysus watched them as they left, as if watching for wolves in sheep clothing among them.   
Max took Zoey’s hand and led her back to their cabin.   
“It’s weird,” Zoey said as they walked. “I don’t feel scared.”  
“I don’t think we know enough to be scared,” Max said. “But we’ll make it.”  
“And if we don’t, we’ll see Mom and Dad,” Zoey said simply.  
Max clenched his fingers around hers.  
“We’ll make it,” he repeated. Zoey nodded, but fell silent.  
They prepared for bed, and Zoey soon fell asleep, obeying Mina’s order to become well-rested. But Max stayed awake, and when he was sure Zoey wouldn’t wake up, he got out of bed and tiptoed outside. He had plans for tonight, ones that could save him and Zoey from the prophecy and everything that had happened since.

Dionysus returned to the Big House once all of the campers had left. He found Hebe, still in spider form, waiting for him beside myriad empty soda cans.  
“Is this all you can make lately?” she asked.  
“Yep. Zeus cut me off from making wine. Producing soda on a whim isn’t a bad ability to have though. Why are you still here?”  
“’Lose the gods, whose hearts cannot mend’,” Hebe said. “Since when were our hearts broken? We’ve always loved mortals and always lost them, only to get back on our feet again. What’s the difference now?”  
“The recent battles have left the demigods at odds with each other,” Dionysus said. “They have more grudges against each other than we gods do. Our children are at our heart, Hebe. We may not like to admit it, but their success is our success. If they break, we’ll break, too.”  
“So this time the prophecy isn’t about any titan or god trying to destroy us, is it?” Hebe said. “We finally have to face the consequences of our actions.”  
“It won’t be easy,” said Dionysus. “But we can make it.”  
“Can we?” asked Hebe. Dionysus silently took a sip from a soda can, and with that answer, Hebe vanished back to Olympus.


	10. Dreamers and the Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes the chapter title is a Homestuck reference

It was dark, but flames jumped ahead of Rick like miniature beating hearts. The clanging of metal on metal around him sounded like footsteps. He plunged forward blindly, but no matter which way he turned, the metallic noise crashed closer to him. He didn’t dare cry out for his friend and sister, Mina. He didn’t want the creature to find her. He needed to escape.  
“HOW DARE YOU,” boomed a voice. “HOW DARE YOU TRESPASS ON MY LANDS.”  
Rick couldn’t run any faster. He couldn’t hide. Flames kept creeping up on his path, illuminating where he stood. The creature could see him.   
Light flickered in sunglasses, a magical gift from his father, Apollo, but Rick didn’t dare use them. Any moment of thought that he would need to use his light powers would stop his blind instinct to run, and he couldn’t stop running.   
Finally, he came to the end of the junkyard. A chain-link fence stood between him and freedom, but the gate to the outside world was locked. Mina stood on the other side, trying to force it open. When she saw Rick, she doubled her efforts to break the lock on the gate. The effort was killing her, Rick knew. He had to save himself quickly.  
The creature quickly caught up to Rick as he stopped in front of the gate and took a swipe at the thirteen-year-old boy. Rick dodged, but he felt the heat emanating from the creature as it came closer. Now that he could get a good look at it, it looked like a medieval soldier crossed with a forge. Its head was an anvil, and its armor and chainmail glinted dangerously off its bulging muscles.  
Now at a standstill, Rick used his sunglasses to center the light from the fires around him and form a sword of pure light. He held it aloft.  
“Do your worst, monster!” he yelled, hoping a conversation would buy Mina more time.  
“MONSTER?” said the creature. “INSOLENT BOY. I AM HEPHAESTUS.”  
Mina let out something of a stifled gasp behind Rick, but Hephaestus didn’t seem to notice. Though he appeared to have no eyes, he seemed to give Rick a withering stare as the boy trembled slightly with his newly-created sword in front of him.  
“BUT YOU ARE YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED. SO I WILL GIVE YOU A WARNING. DO NOT MEDDLE IN MY AFFAIRS AGAIN,” said Hephaestus. He took one step closer.  
Rick lunged at the god, who simply kicked him down. Rick’s light sword fell to the ground and shattered in the darkness. Before Rick could get back on his feet, Hephaestus took one more step, right onto the boy’s chest. The red hot metal of Hephaestus’ boot seared itself into Rick’s chest, burning clean through his t-shirt onto his skin. Rick was screaming even though he didn’t realize it.   
Suddenly, the fence behind the two burst open. In his confusion, Hephaestus stepped off Rick, who was nearly unconscious from the pain. Mina chucked a rock at Hephaestus’ head, and though it didn’t leave so much as a dent in his armor, it caused him to stumble back in surprise. This gave Mina enough crucial seconds to run forward, throw her arms under Rick, and drag him out of the junkyard.   
Hephaestus seemed to want to follow, but he simply slammed the gate back into place and forged a new lock for it out of thin air.   
Mina was shaking uncontrollably.   
“You shouldn’t have gone,” she kept muttering. “You shouldn’t have gone in. It wasn’t the right path.”  
She began tearing off what was left of Rick’s shirt to get to the burn underneath. She didn’t comment on how bad it was, but Rick knew he was in terrible shape. He also knew she could heal him completely. He had faith in her.  
“Don’t,” he gasped as she made place her hands on his burn.  
“Don’t what?” she asked stepping back quickly.   
“Don’t heal me.”  
“What?” she said, trembling. “You’re not thinking right, just let me-“  
“No,” he said. “I need it. I need it to scar. I need to remember-“  
“Rick, infection will set in-“  
“I need to remember what happened. It’s my fault. I deserve this-“  
“Rick, you made one mistake. You took one wrong path, I told you-“  
“Yeah, you told me,” he hissed. “You told me I was going the wrong way. I even made us split up. And look what happened. I deserve the consequences.”  
“Yeah, but I found you,” Mina said, now becoming angry. “I helped you out of this-“  
“But I should have been able to do this myself-“  
“You don’t need to do everything by yourself-“  
“But I’ve done it all my life and I can do it now,” Rick said. “I haven’t always needed you, Mina, and now is no exception.”  
Mina gaped at him.   
“But your chest-“  
“Look, just, make sure the infection doesn’t set in. But I need this, and you know it.”  
“But-“  
“DO IT!” Rick screamed.  
Mina stiffened, but nodded.  
“Fine,” she said. “Maybe this scar will remind you of the person you didn’t always need. Remember how I didn’t let you die when you look in the mirror and see a giant footprint on your chest.”  
The world’s colors splashed together, then faded to black.

Rick woke up with a start, feeling like he was going to throw up. He threw off his covers and walked as quickly as he dared to the bathroom in the cabin. He crouched down over the toilet, taking deep breaths.  
Gods, he hated that dream. Whenever he seemed to forget about his and Mina’s journey to Camp Half-Blood, it always crept up on him in the middle of the night.   
He stood up after a couple minutes to test how his gut was handling aftermath of the nightmare. He settled himself over the bathroom sink just in case and looked up into the mirror. Realizing his sleep shirt was soaked in sweat, he took it off and looked at his reflection.   
A footprint-shaped scar marred his pale skin. As per his request, Mina hadn’t healed him fully that night three years ago. Now, the ugly mark was forever implanted on his heart. He began to trace its outline absentmindedly.  
“You should have let me heal you,” said a voice.  
Rick whirled around to find Mina standing in the doorway to the bathroom.  
“Give me some privacy, would you?” he snarled.  
“Don’t leave the bathroom door open, then,” she said testily. She eyed Rick’s chest. “You should have let me heal you that day.”  
“Why’s that?”  
“Well, for one, you wouldn’t have a giant scar that makes you wince every time you move,” she said.  
“Did you come in here just to insult me?” Rick asked.   
“No,” Mina said. “I came in to see if you needed any help.”  
“Why would I need-?”  
“Oh, come on,” Mina said exasperatedly. “We’re on the same side, Rick. We’re going on a quest tomorrow. Am I still mad at you? Of course. But at least I’m willing to give it a rest to get things done.”  
“So now you’re sanctimonious? Give it a rest, Mina,” said Rick.  
Mina glared at him.  
“Fine. But you should remember that according to the prophecy, we’re dealing with fire, so don’t come crying to me when you get killed because you won’t let me heal you. We already tried that once. Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.”  
Rick looked like he wanted to get the last word in, but the ground suddenly began to shake. Someone from one of the other cabins screamed. The two co-counselors shared a last look before bolting off in the direction of the cry.

Max snuck past Zoey’s bed and tiptoed outside. The moon was obscured by clouds, making it darker than it should have been. Small lanterns hung by each cabin’s entrance, but they were only bright enough to make Max a fuzzy silhouette to the other campers.  
Max didn’t know quite what he was doing, but somehow Zoey had pulled those skeletons from the ground earlier in the day (had it only been one day? It seemed so much longer). Something in her had made them come alive. And if she could do it because she was a daughter of Pluto, he could do it too.  
He could bring his mom back.  
Max decided to start where Zoey’s powers had caused such turmoil. He stared at the small crack in the ground about ten feet from the cabin entrance, the only reminder of what had happened when Johnny and his gang had showed up. He knelt and placed his hand on the small patch of uneven earth.  
He could sense the entirety of what was underneath him. The skittering of insects, the slow growth of plants, the cold, unmoving masses of rock and mineral. It was like a living map had been drawn in his mind of what lay beneath the ground. He could feel the earth move.  
Before he lost his nerve, Max tried to will the dead to come to him. He thought of his mom, her smile, her crazy antics. He thought of her essence coming back to life. He thought of her leaving wherever she was and rising to meet him.   
The ground rumbled beneath him, but he continued looking at the ground, concentrating on summoning his mom. Glittering gems and metals began bursting at his feet. The earth let out a final moaning crack, and something touched his hand. Max looked up, grinning, to find two dark, wide eyes staring back at him.  
Max screamed, made to move back, and tripped over the precious stones that were scattered around his feet. Instead of his mom, a ghost of a boy stood in front of him. The boy, clad in pajamas, looked younger than him, but just about as frightened as him.  
“Where are we?” the boy asked as his eyes bugged out.  
“Who are you?” Max said, wishing he had brought his baseball bat/sword with him. If this kid turned out to be dangerous…  
The boy looked around worriedly.   
“This isn’t the Fields of Asphodel.” Though his ghost form made him nearly see-through, his face paled even further. “Did they send us to the Fields of Punishment? I’m too young to die again!”  
Max heard cabin doors opening and slamming shut. Voices rang out, and flashlight beams danced like strobe lights on the back of the Hades cabin. He had no time to lose.  
“You’re at Camp Half-Blood-“ he started.  
“Camp Half-Blood?” the ghost cried. “I can’t be back here! I died here!”  
“What-?”  
“Lefty! Save us!” the ghost yelled.   
A ghostly severed hand flew out from behind the ghost boy and blocked him like a shield (it wasn’t very effective). Before Max could think of a response to this, two counselors ran to the front of the Hades cabin.   
“Max!” yelled Rick. He had a giant footprint on his bare chest, Max noticed.  
“Max!” Mina yelled, a step behind Rick. “Are you-?”  
Both shone their flashlights on Max, the ghost boy, and the ghost hand. Mina ran forward and yanked Max back, while Rick lunged forward between them and the ghosts.   
“Are you hurt?” Mina asked, giving Max a once over.   
“No, no, I’m fine-“ Max began, embarrassed to have been caught in his escapades.  
“Get back!” Rick yelled at the ghosts. The ghost boy cowered behind Lefty, who made a rude gesture at Rick.  
“Then what are you doing out here?” Mina asked.   
“Well…”  
Lefty made a series of gestures that the ghost boy seemed to understand.   
“You summoned us,” said the boy, gaping at Max.  
“You summoned them?” asked Mina. Rick didn’t let his guard down. More counselors were rushing to the area now, weapons drawn at the ghosts. “Why did you summon them?”  
“I wasn’t trying to summon them!” Max exclaimed.  
“Then what were you trying to summon?”   
“I… my mom, ok?” said Max , pushing Mina off of him. He stood up and brushed himself off. “She died yesterday trying to save us. I figured if I could bring her back…”  
“You tried summoning Mom?” said a voice.  
Zoey stepped out of the cabin in her pajamas. She carefully walked over to Max in her bare feet.  
“I mean… yeah… it was probably a stupid idea,” Max said. “But I figured if you could summon skeletons-“  
“She can summon skeletons?” said Rick.   
“It happened earlier today…” said Zoey.   
Mina shook her head.  
“Listen, we had an incident with the Doors of Death a few months back. People who were dead came back to life, but it didn’t end well, Max. People who are dead are meant to stay dead,” she said.  
“Like I said, it was a stupid idea,” Max snapped. “I’m going back to bed.”  
“Send the ghosts back before you go,” said Rick, finally letting down his sword and sheathing it at his side. The rest of the counselors took the hint and, grumbling to themselves, began returning to their cabins.   
“Fine,” Max said. He walked back over to where Rick was and looked at the ghost boy, who stared back at him with big eyes. Max attempted to will him and the severed hand back to wherever they had come from (Hades, maybe?), but whatever had clicked inside Max to make them appear wasn’t letting them disappear.   
“Um…”  
“Need some help?” Zoey asked.   
“Yeah… yeah, sure,” said Max.   
Zoey stepped beside him and closed her eyes in concentration. After a few moments, she opened her eyes again.  
“We can’t send them back,” she said.   
“What do you mean you can’t send them back?” Rick said. “Max summoned them. He should be able to un-summon them.”  
“It’s like something’s blocking the way back,” said Zoey. “Whenever I try to push them away, they get stuck against something.”  
“What does that mean?” the ghost boy said.   
“It means you’re stuck here for now,” said Zoey.   
The boy’s eyes welled with tears.   
“No,” he moaned. “I want to go back…”  
“You can stay with us, if you want,” said Zoey. “What’s your name?”  
The boy wiped tears from his eyes.   
“PJ,” he said. The severed hand floated up to meet Zoey and shook her hand. “That’s Lefty. Which cabin are we in?”  
“The Hades cabin.”  
PJ’s face whitened even more, but Lefty waved him over, and the two followed Zoey into the cabin. Max made to follow a good distance away from them.  
“Max,” Mina said, putting out an arm to hold him back for a second. “Seriously, get some sleep. I’m sorry this happened to you, but… just, rest up, ok?”  
Mina took her hand back, and she and Rick headed back to the Apollo cabin. Max watched them leave. He shook his head and headed into the Hades cabin. Maybe it had been a stupid idea to try to get his mom back. He didn’t look at Zoey, PJ, or Lefty as he got into bed and yanked the covers over his head. He was going on a quest tomorrow. It was best that he get some sleep.


	11. Death and Thunder, Tricks and War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I SWEAR I WILL FINISH THIS FIC IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO  
> Here's the first part of the prophecy fulfilled!

The next morning, Max awoke to the camp getting ready for battle.  
Kids were scrambling around, trying to prepare for a potential fight. Most of the Hermes kids, including RJ, Suzy, and Dimitri, were out of sight, placing traps. Ares children were giving last minute tips on proper weapon technique. Apollo kids either drew their bows or set up miniature hospital areas around the camp. Collin and the Athena kids surrounded an odd figure, which appeared to be a sentient lamp-like object.  
“That’s their mom, Athena, though it looks like he’s taken a male form right now,” said Walker, as he suited Max up with armor. Walker made some adjustments to the straps while Max watched his fellow questers huddle up in their respective groups to talk strategy. Arguments were already breaking out among them. This was not good.  
“Don’t worry, man,” said a voice. Max looked up to see Johnny walking towards him.  
“Oh, because we aren’t all probably going to be killed by monsters. That’s no reason to worry,” Max said sarcastically.  
Johnny shrugged.  
“You’ve got mad rock powers. Use ‘em. We can take care of Camp Half-Blood.”  
He saw Max look over towards Zoey, who was talking seriously to PJ and Lefty, both of whom were now carrying weapons.  
“Me and the gang will look after them. Just get a move on. The faster you guys figure this quest out, the less monster face we’ll have to punch” said Johnny, grinning crookedly.  
Max cracked a grateful smile at that, and as Walker finished up putting on his gear, he sheathed his sword, fist bumped Johnny, and walked over to Isaac, Ed, and Isabel.  
“If we keep our hand on the right side of the maze, we should be able to find the exit,” said Isaac.  
“We’re not looking for the exit, though,” said Isabel. “We’re trying to find the sisters of lore.”  
“Well, maybe they’re at the exit!”  
“It’s the Labyrinth! There’s like 5 billion exits around the world! Which one would they be at?”  
Isaac didn’t have an answer for that, so he was grateful when Max showed up to distract them.  
“What’s your idea for strategy?” Isaac asked.  
“I mean, I’ve never been in the Labyrinth before, so whatever you guys want works with me, I guess?” Max said.  
“There may only be one path,” Ed chimed in. “We may not have to make any decisions just yet.”  
“But we’ll come to a fork in the road eventually!” Isabel said. “So what do we do then? We are NOT splitting up.”  
“Are you ready to go in?” Dionysus questioned, interrupting the group as he walked up to them.  
“Well-“  
“Eh, you’re probably fine. Prophecies usually work themselves out.” Dionysus scratched his head nonchalantly and swished his tail. “It’s time for you guys to start the quest. Good luck. Don’t die.”  
“Gee, thanks,” said Max. He was terrified. Frankly, he’d been at camp for one day, barely knew how to fight, and was being counted on to go on a dangerous quest. Now, he was worried about dying, about Zoey dying, about EVERYONE dying. He supposed it was ironic that a child of Pluto could be afraid of death.  
Isabel lead the group towards the entrance to the Labyrinth. She put a hand on the boulder that marked it and peered down into the maze.  
“I can’t see anything,” she said, stepping back.  
“Well, ladies first, right?” said Max. Isabel stuck her tongue out at Max, glanced nervously back at the maze entrance, and slowly back into it. Ed followed right after.  
Isaac made to go down next, and while he was climbing backwards, Zoey, who had followed the group, ran forward to hug Max.  
“You’ll be ok,” she said. “I hope.”  
“I will be, and you will be, too,” said Max. He couldn’t cry in front of her, in front of everyone.  
As Isaac’s head disappeared, Max unlatched Zoey from him, stepped into the entrance, and descended into the Labyrinth

Once Max stepped beneath the ground, everything became clearer. It was like he had put on night vision goggles. It wasn’t bright, per se, but he could sense everything around him in the darkness as if there was a light source. The tunnel curved around to the left, so Max started in that direction.  
“Which way should we go?” asked Ed.  
“How should I know?” Isabel snapped. “It’s not like I can see!”  
Something crackled, and Isaac held up his hand, which was full of lightning.  
“Here’s our best shot at sight,” Isaac said.  
“Guys, the maze curves to the left,” said Max. “There’s more than enough light to see-“  
“Well, you’re a child of Pluto!” Isabel said. “You can navigate underground then. Lead the way, Max!”  
“There’s no way I’m going first!”  
“I’ll do this,” Isaac said, shoving his way forward with his hand stretched in front of him. The lightning he held had an eerie blue glow.  
“Hey! Watch it, man!” Ed yelped, diving out of the way.  
“Still afraid of a little danger, I presume?” Isabel asked coldly. Ed shut up.  
Isaac pushed ahead, Max fell into step behind him, and Isabel and Ed took up the back, keeping their ears peeled for sounds.  
After the initial uproar they had caused, now the four were oddly silent. The only noise was the lightning up ahead and their dull footsteps. The Labyrinth never took them to a crossroads. It never took them to an exit. They kept winding up and down in the damp earth.  
“So, are we just going to continue like this or-?” Max said after about fifteen minutes.  
“Do you have a better plan?” Isaac asked. “There’s only one path!”  
Max quieted. He swore he could hear rushing water, but something about it was wrong. It was too disturbed, too cacophonous. He couldn’t actually feel any water around him, the way he could feel the gems and metals beneath the earth. But as the campers came upon the next bend, he stopped them.  
“Something’s wrong,” he said.  
“You mean besides the fact that this hasn’t even been a maze? We don’t have options about where to go. We just keep going-“ said Isabel.  
“Maybe we should go back-“  
“No,” Isaac snapped. “The others will be back there. We can’t let them know we bailed on the quest.”  
“Hey, guys?” Ed said. “I don’t think we have a choice about going back.”  
Max felt the change before Ed mentioned it. His gut twisted in an odd way, and he felt the earth shake, though nobody else seemed to notice this. When he looked back at Ed, he saw that their trail had become a solid wall behind them.  
“Now what do we do?” he asked.  
“You could probably move the stone like before, if you really want to-“ said Ed.  
“No!” said Isaac. “We’re moving ahead.”  
“This isn’t YOUR quest, Isaac. We should all decide,” said Isabel.  
“Fine. Max, what do you think we should do?”  
“Well, it’s either we go back or we enter the room ahead, right?” Max said.  
“…How do you know there’s a room ahead?” Isaac asked.  
“Didn’t you say there was one ahead?”  
“No…”  
“I think Max is right,” said Isabel. She walked a few steps around the bend. “The air is less stuffy. I think I can hear something. We must be close to an exit.”  
“I’m all up for an exit,” said Max.  
“I agree,” said Isabel. “Are you guys in?”  
“Yeah,” Ed said, taking out his sword.  
Isaac turned his lightning into a spear. “Ready as ever.”  
Isabel nodded, then tiptoed forward. The boys followed behind her.  
The tunnel got wider and taller as they progressed until they stood in front of a cavern the size of an arena. The roaring, water-like noise shook the stalactites on the ceiling. It was as if the walls were applauding them. A small crevice separated the middle of the room.  
“I guess we hop over that?” said Isaac. Max followed him ahead. Isabel stayed back with Ed.  
“Something’s not right,” Isabel said. She inspected on of the walls, as if looking for a curtain to pull aside. Ed began to do the same.  
Isaac jumped over the crevice, then Max did the same.  
A large tearing noise ripped through the cavern as either side of the crevice ripped apart, creating a gap too large to jump over. Max and Isaac’s side began to rise.  
The walls around the cavern began to fade as if they were nothing but shadows. Behind them, the kids could see theater seats filled with hundreds of beautiful, female creatures. Their hissing laughter was the cause of the water-like sound, and they looked hungry.  
“My beloved empousa,” cried a woman’s voice. A figure, who appeared to be the leader of the creatures, sat higher than the other. Her head was covered by a helmet with the insignias of hundreds of snakes woven into it. “It appears our heroes have finally arrived! After waiting years for our show to begin again, it is time for our reigning champions to make their appearance and slay our enemies!”  
Two doors appeared, one on either side of the crevice. Isaac held his spear at the ready, and Max shakily held his baseball bat at one door. Ed and Isabel aimed their swords at the other. This was not going to end well.  
“Death to the half-bloods!” yelled the leader.  
“Death to the half-bloods!” the crowd repeated. They began yelling for blood as the doors opened.  
The two monsters at either end had their eyes closed as they entered. It may have been the wish for a fair fight, but Isabel thought it was pure arrogance that the creatures thought they could defeat them even without their powers.  
“Don’t look at them! They’re gorgons!” she yelled shielding her and Ed’s eyes. Isaac and Max obeyed as well.  
“What are gorgons?” Max yelled to Isaac.  
“Snake-haired creatures! Their gazes turn you to stone because they’re so hideous, so don’t look them in the eyes!”  
“Well, that’s rude,” said the leader of the empousa. “And they dressed up so nice for your death today! Come on, sneak a peak at Stheno and Euryale!”  
“The sisters of lore!” yelled Isaac.  
“What?” Max said.  
“Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa were the three gorgon sisters of lore! We have to beat them to save the camp!”  
“But we can’t look at them? How are we supposed to fight them?”  
“We only have to fight one. Are you guys okay?” Isaac yelled down, standing too close to the crevice.  
“We’re good!” Isabel shouted back. “You finish yours off, we’ll get ours. We can do this!”  
“How can we do this?” asked Max.  
“Medusa was beheaded, so maybe we can behead her.”  
“Ok, but how can we do that WITHOUT LOOKING AT HER?”  
“Good point…” Isaac looked everywhere but at their gorgon. He got an idea.  
“Max, can you make a wall of stone so she doesn’t get over here?”  
“I can try,” Max said.  
“Good, you do that. I’ve got a plan.”  
“Sounds good to me!”  
Even though he felt stupid, Max willed it inside of himself and felt the rock beneath his feet respond. He lifted his arms and felt a stretch of rock behind him lift.  
“Move it further back!” yelled Isaac.  
Max tried to will the rock backwards, but it ended up crashing like a wave into the back of the wall.  
“Good enough!” Isaac said.  
“Isaac, what are you-“  
Isaac took a half glance behind him at the gorgon, who had thankfully fallen due to Max’s rockslide. He guessed her general area, aimed above him, and shot lightning at the ceiling. He calculated his aim enough to hit the stalactites instead of the actual ceiling (because he did NOT need a cave-in right now), and the spires near the gorgon crashed to the ground.  
Max and Isaac heard a scream amid the thuds of rock falling and correctly guessed that they had hit their mark.  
“Your plan worked!” Max exclaimed.  
“You don’t have to sound so surprised,” Isaac grumbled, glaring at Max.  
“No, I mean… we’re still alive because of you. Thank you, seriously.”  
Isaac looked up at Max, who was giving him an approving nod. Isaac stuck out his hand, and Max jumped back.  
“I’m not trying to shoot lightning at you!”  
“Oh… I knew that…”  
“It’s a truce,” said Isaac, still offering his hand. “We got off on the wrong foot, but we work well together. And I think it’s time we settle our differences if we want to save the camp.”  
Max smiled and shook Isaac’s hand.  
“Agreed,” said Max.  
While Max and Isaac had been fighting their gorgon, Ed and Isabel had been standing against one of the other sisters of lore. The gorgon didn’t bother addressing the crowds that were cheering on her success in destroying the demigods, and she immediately ran forward with her claws out.  
Isabel had been shielding her and Ed’s eyes, but Ed ducked under her arm. He threw his shield out in front of him and ran towards the gorgon, watching her feet from underneath his shield.  
“Ed! What are you - look out!”  
Suddenly, the gorgon’s feet left the ground as she jumped. Ed lunged up and forward in response, swinging his sword in an arch. He felt it connect and sever the gorgon’s head from her body. She didn’t even have time to scream.  
Ed watched the gorgon’s body fall, but didn’t dare look closer.  
“Is she dead?” he called to Isabel.  
“Yeah, she’s dead!” Isabel called, running over to Ed. “What was that about? Why didn’t you wait for me-?”  
“Because I failed you once,” Ed said. “With the griffin. I’m never leaving you like that again.”  
“I didn’t ask you to do this for me,” Isabel said.  
“You didn’t need to,” said Ed.  
Isabel paused. Then she punched Ed in the shoulder so hard that he staggered backwards.  
“Don’t scare me like that again!” she said, near tears. “And… thank you. For saving us.”  
A loud crash sounded from above them, where Isaac and Max were fighting.  
“Oh man, that didn’t sound good…” Isabel said.  
Enraged hisses from the crowd filled the air, sounding like a nest of snakes had overtaken the cavern. The empousa began standing up and climbing over the walls of the theater into the arena.  
“Are you guys ok?” Isabel yelled up the cliff.  
Max and Isaac looked over the edge, grinning.  
“We’re good!” yelled Max.  
“But we won’t be good for long…” said Isaac, glancing at the sides of the arena at the swarming empousa.  
“Empousa!” yelled the helmeted figure who seemed to be controlling them. “Sit back! There is no need for alarm! Stheno and Euryale were incompetent anyway. Now, these demigods must face the real challenge: me!”  
The figure took off her helmet, and Isaac shielded Max’s face just in time as Medusa revealed herself. She roared and leapt down into the pit where Ed and Isabel were.  
“We need to help them!” Max said. “What do we do?”  
“I can use my powers to fly me down, but I can’t take you with me,” Isaac said, chewing his lip. “I haven’t flown with anyone else before, and your extra weight will throw me off.”  
“Are you calling me fat?”  
“I’ll help them while you stay up here.”  
“What happens if the audience decides to participate in this fight?” Max asked. “I can’t take them all by myself.”  
“Use your powers to create a staircase in the rock that leads into where Isabel and Ed are. Then we can fight together,” said Isaac.  
“Sounds good to me! Get going!” Max began concentrating, and a small foothold appeared in the cliff. More began to materialize.  
Isaac flew down behind Ed and Isabel, who were trying to use their shields as mirrors to find where Medusa was.  
“She’s too heavily armored for a direct attack,” said Isabel. Isaac agreed. Even without her helmet, Medusa had been wearing armor that covered her from her neck down. Ed’s attack on Stheno wouldn’t work on Medusa.  
The shields weren’t effective mirrors either. Their shapes were too warped to create a reliable reflection, and the metal on Medusa’s armor flashed at odd angles on the metal shields.  
Metal on Medusa’s armor… Metal shields…  
“Guys, I have an idea!” Isaac said. “Chuck your shields at Medusa!”  
“That won’t do anything!” said Isabel. “We can’t knock her out at this distance!”  
“Plus we’ll be defenseless!” said Ed.  
“Trust me!” Isaac said. He could see the metal glinting in the light the cavern gave off.  
“Yes, put your trust in the child who nearly killed one of your own!” laughed Medusa, who was skirting the outside of the arena, looking for weaknesses in the group’s formation. “His arrogance will be your undoing once again!”  
“Please!” Isaac said. “The metal’s a conductor of-“  
“Electricity!” Isabel said, her eyes lighting up. She glanced at Ed, who nodded, understanding what Isaac planned to do. Ed grinned.  
“On the count of three!” Ed said. “One!”  
“Two!” shouted Isabel.  
“Three!” yelled Isaac.  
Isabel and Ed flung their shields at the gorgon, checkmating her between the two. Isaac blasted lightning at the shields, and the disks, now charged with electricity, hit their mark on Medusa’s metal armor. Medusa screamed as the electricity fried her body, and her body hit the ground, still sparking. Her face, now charred, was too distorted to turn anyone to stone as she turned to dust.  
Max suddenly dropped down right next to her, his staircase of stone complete.  
“Ok, guys, time to – oh, jeez!” Max said, accidentally stepping on a piece of fried snake hair. “I guess you did pretty good without me.”  
“Yeah, thanks to Isaac!” Isabel said, grinning at the spiky-haired boy.  
“Yeah, thanks, man!” said Ed, beaming at Isaac and patting him on the back awkwardly. Isaac hesitated.  
“You’ve learned a lot since the cyclopes incident, Isaac,” said Isabel, correctly guessing his reluctance to celebrate with them. “We’re cool now.”  
“Yeah, dude! You totally showed us up!” Ed said.  
Isaac could have cried with relief. How weird was it to go from hating someone you once considered your best friend to liking them again?  
Even if Isaac had cried, no one would have been able to hear it. The empousa, now realizing the implications of their leader’s death, had begun to hiss again.  
“Plan B!” one of them yelled.  
Empousa began launching themselves out of their seats. The four demigods quickly formed a square with their backs to each other, ready to face down the empousa, but the monsters rushed toward the entrance to the tunnel, ignoring and staying well away from the four demigods.  
“What are they doing?” asked Isaac.  
Max felt a jerk in his stomach. He sensed the motion of the tunnel. It was changing direction, leading directly to…  
“Camp Half-Blood!” Max said, panicking as he thought about his sister. “They’re going to Camp Half-Blood!”  
“We defeated the sisters of lore, but they must have planned a second attack!” Isabel said. “We have to get back to camp! NOW!”  
Nobody argued with Isabel, and she, Ed, Isaac, and Max all ran after the empousa, ready to protect their camp.


	12. Daughter of Love and Twins of Sun's Rays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next part of the prophecy!

Fifteen minutes after the first four questers disappeared, Rick, Mina, and Day approached the entrance to the Labyrinth. The two girls allowed Rick to descend first, as his light powers would come in handy to see anything sneaking up on them while they tried to enter. Day climbed down next, and Mina came after.  
Rick held a ball of light in palm, which illuminated the path ahead.  
“Looks like we’re heading straight,” he said. “Come on.”  
The trio silently made their way forward. Rick was lead while Mina protected him and Day from behind. They attempted to slow their pace so as not to bump into the group that was surely ahead of them (though they had no idea that the Labyrinth had changed since the first four had entered, leading them far away from the original group), but they were all so tense that it was all that they could do to stay together.   
“Rick, slow down!” Mina said. “We can’t keep up!”  
“Yes, you can! Just stop being so paranoid about whatever you think is behind us and hurry up!”  
“Do you WANT me to die from an attack from behind?”  
Day sighed. This was going to be a long trek.  
“If you hurry up, we can outrun whatever’s back there!” Rick said, scrambling ahead.  
Mina whipped around to yell at her brother.  
“Well, it’s not like there are mythical beings that can outrun us down here! I sure am glad!”  
“You both have valid points. Can we move on?” Day asked, bumping her head on a particularly pointy stalactite on the ceiling. She scowled, and Rick and Mina shut up. Mina turned back to watch behind them, only to find a solid wall of stone.   
“Well, the way back is blocked now,” she said to Day and Rick.   
“Then let’s GO!” said Rick.   
The tunnel of the Labyrinth was curving up as far as they could tell. It couldn’t go up forever, so they hoped that meant there was an exit nearby. Surprisingly, despite the twists and turns, there hadn’t been any choices to take different pathways. There was only the one, and it kept going and going.  
A rumbling began up ahead. It didn’t sound like an earthquake, thank the gods, but Rick wasn’t sure it wasn’t. It seemed to have a rhythm to it. The path began to lighten enough that he could see without his conjured light (though he kept it in his hand just in case), and a short distance away, he could see an opening in the Labyrinth.   
“It looks like we found something guys!” Rick whisper-shouted to Mina and Day. They nodded, but understood the need for quiet Rick suddenly possessed. The rumbling began to shake the tunnel, and the earth began to bake. Rick squashed his light, paused at the tunnel’s exit, and snuck a quick glance outside.   
“It looks like a field. Maybe a farm. There’s a lot of open land and a white picket fence.” He tiptoed further out of the exit and quickly reentered it.   
“Mayday!” he said, visibly paling. “Khalkotauroi! They’re at three o’clock when we exit!”  
“How many are there?” Mina said tersely.  
“It’s both of them, but-“  
“Then it’s three against two. We can take them,” Day said fiercely.   
“I- yeah. I suppose we can,” Rick said. Mina could tell he was feigning calm at Day’s words. Nobody aside from Mina and Rick knew the story of their trek to Camp Half-Blood. Day didn’t know about Hephaestus and his junkyard, so she didn’t know how the Khalkotauroi would affect him. The bronze, fire-breathing bulls, made by Hephaestus himself, probably had Rick terrified out of his wits, and Mina was impressed he could keep his composure.  
“How do we know they’re hostile?” Mina asked.   
“Do you want to find out?” Rick asked.  
“Do we have a choice? I’ll go first.”  
Rick stiffened, fought a mental battle with himself, but quickly let Mina go first. If he went first, he might panic, and that wouldn’t do anybody any good.  
Mina pushed past Day while Rick guarded the solid wall behind them. She stepped outside and into the sun.  
It was a good sign that the bulls didn’t attack her on sight.   
“They’re not paying any attention to me. Come on,” Mina said.   
Rick helped hoist Day up through the exit, and he followed suit. He had been correct in thinking they were on a farm. What looked like a ranch house stood a ways away. The fields were encircled with white fences, but the area large enough to hold nearly half of Camp Half-Blood.   
“Did you hear that?” Day asked sharply.   
“Hear what?” Mina and Rick asked back.  
Evidently the bulls had heard something too as they now stood at attention. They seemed to notice the trio for the first time, though they seemed to have no intention of messing with them.  
A caw struck through the silence of the ranch.   
“Stymphalian birds,” Day said.   
“Oh, this is bad…” Mina said.  
“Very bad,” said Rick.   
The Khalkotauroi, upon hearing this second birdcall, immediately shook themselves out, snorted as if revving up their engines, and charged at Rick, Mina, and Day.   
Mina shoved herself and Day to the ground on one side of the bulls while Rick leaped to the other side. Rick got a determined look on his face, deciding that if he had to deal with his deepest fear, he’d at least deal with it head on. He created a lasso out of light and swung it at the bull nearest him.  
“Stay here!” he heard Mina urge Day. He saw the flash of Mina’s dagger as she leapt after the other bull and heard Day yell in protest. Rick agreed. A knife wouldn’t do much in a fight like this.  
Rick was no cowboy, and his lasso swung wide. He allowed it to disappear in a puff of smoke and conjured another one. When he swung it, it collided with the bull, which was now charging back at him, but hit its side instead of looping around its horns. He ducked as the bull jumped over him.  
Mina stood far away from the others. As if fighting in a matador ring, she watched the second bull come closer and closer, checking it for weak spots where she could strike with her dagger, and leaped out of the way a split second before it gored her with its horns.   
She wanted to duck under her bull and aim for its gut, but it always lowered its head to attack her, blocking her access to its belly. She had to do something different.  
Rick managed to get a rope of light around the front leg of his bull, but he wasn’t strong enough to hold it back and ended up being dragged along with it as it ran, unable to figure out how to get its captor off of its trail. Rick managed to untangle his sword from its sheath while holding on, climbed up the rope, and slammed his sword into its leg.  
All this managed to do was cut a thin slice into the bull and tick it off even more. It bucked and blew fire into the sky. Rick let go of the tendril of light he was holding. The bull had succeeded in setting part of the field ablaze. He had to end this quickly, then finish off Mina’s bull because if his sword couldn’t dent the bull, then her knife didn’t stand a chance.   
Mina wasn’t quite sure where she was relative to the others anymore. The fire enveloping the ranch had forced her to change course while watching her bull. She was using her hijab as a filter for the smoke, and her glasses blocked the smoke from getting in her eyes, thank the gods, but she was worried for Day. She could only do so much with Day unable to see and fight. The bull she was fighting shot fire at her, and she ducked. As she watched, the bull that Rick was fighting stepped into the line of fire and roared in pain, its knees nearly buckling.   
She had an idea. If she could get the bulls to turn on each other…  
Rick took his chance. While his bull was being burned, he thrust his sword into its belly. The Khalkotaurus wasn’t protected by bronze or bone there. The bull attempted to breath fire in its pain, but only smoke came out.   
Rick grinned. He rolled out from under the bull, which was falling to the ground, and took aim at its neck.  
“DAY!”  
Rick heard Mina scream for her friend. On instinct, he turned towards the yell, only to find Day in the path of the bull Mina was fighting. Rick tore himself from his own bull. He probably should have finished it off first, but he couldn’t tell how much time he had to save Day. Mina was behind the bull, too far away to push the bull off course or get Day out of the way. Rick was close enough. He could do it.   
He gave up on trying to create a lasso and instead launched himself at the bull. He threw a cord of light around its neck with his right hand and caught it with his left. Rick dug his feet into the bull’s side and yanked as hard as he could on the cord as if they were reigns.  
The bull snorted and bucked, but responded to the reigns and veered off course. It crashed into the bull Rick had been trying to kill and pierced its neck with its horns. Now, that bull lay still.  
Rick, mentally fist-bumping himself for a job well-done, was suddenly thrown off the bull, which had been trying to get its horns out of its dead comrade and had finally succeeded. He heard a crunch underneath him, and a numbing pain spread up his side. He meant to cry out, but a silent scream came out of his mouth instead.  
Day was running towards him. No, Rick thought, she’ll be killed. The bull is still alive! He tried to tell her, but his thoughts couldn’t quite make it to his vocal chords.   
The remaining Khalkotaurus jolted around, lowered its head, and ran straight toward Day and Rick.   
Day stopped near Rick. She shook her head to clear it and poised herself in the direction of the stomping feet of the bull. She had no idea how close it was.  
“STOP.”  
She only said the one word, and the bull froze, feet away from the two demigods. Mina was rushing to catch up to them.   
A Stymphalian bird screeched above their heads, and the bull seemed to waver, but Day was quicker.   
“LAY DOWN.”  
The bull obeyed and got down on its knees.   
Mina ran up to her comrades and gulped. Being so close to such a large, fire-breathing beast was terrifying. Day’s charm-speak was amazingly powerful to control such a thing.   
“STAY.”   
The bull lay still.   
“Go on, Mina,” Day said quietly. “You know what to do.”  
Mina, now feeling slightly bad for killing something that now seemed so docile, walked forward and slit the bull’s throat with her dagger. As blood flowed from the Khalkotaurus, it slowly closed it eyes and stilled. Mina tried to breath normally again.  
“Day, that was- oh, my gods, Rick!”  
Rick looked up blearily from his spot on the ground, where he crouched, grabbing his leg.  
“I’m healing you this time. You don’t have a choice,” Mina said, kneeling down.   
“Are you sure?” he asked.  
“Am I sure of what?”  
“That I deserve it?”  
“What?” Mina asked. “Rick, you don’t need to deserve to be healed. You don’t have to deserve some things. Some things need to be given freely, and you always deserve that, regardless of your situation.”  
“But I needed your help to-“  
“Rick-“  
“Rick,” Day said. It was time to end this silly feud. “You helped Mina. Mina wants to help you. Success isn’t individual. You don’t have to do things alone, and frankly, neither does she. Whatever happened between you two needs to end because life isn’t a competition. You care about each other, and you both deserve to have each other in your lives.”  
Mina was speechless. Rick grinned through his pain.   
“I see why my sister is in love with you now. All that wisdom in your head-“  
“Rick!”  
Day leaned over and kissed Mina on the lips. When she pulled away, Mina was blushing so hard that her face looked sunburned.   
“You can heal me, Mina,” Rick said. “I mean, if you’re not too preoccupied.”  
“SHUT UP!” Mina yelled loudly, but she got to work on fixing her brother’s broken leg. “And thank you… for saving Day and me… I guess you’re good for something after all…”  
“As are you.”  
When Rick’s leg healed and clicked back into place, Mina noticed the frenzied shrieking around them.   
“What’s with the noise?” Mina said.  
“The Stymphalian birds seem awfully angry that we beat the Khalkotauroi…” Day said.  
Suddenly, the birds squawked as one and began flying as a huge flock. The flock dove for the ground. The three demigods swore they were goners until the birds shifted course and headed straight for the Labyrinth entrance. They swarmed the hole in the ground and all disappeared as one. Mina frowned.  
“I wonder why they all went into the Labyrinth. I mean, isn’t the tunnel blocked off?” she asked.  
“Unless the tunnel shifted… in which case…” Rick stood up shakily on his newly healed leg.  
“They’re going to Camp Half-Blood,” Day gasped. Mina grabbed Day’s and Rick’s hands and yanked them into the Labyrinth again. They had to get to the camp in time to warn the others. Hopefully, it wasn’t already too late.


	13. Unclaimed Daughters, Victory, Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next next part of the prophecy!

Soon after the trio descended, Cody, Jeff, Violet, and Lisa gathered around the entrance to the Labyrinth.  
“I’ll go first,” said Cody. “Violet and Lisa should follow me, and Jeff should watch our backs.”  
The two girls nodded at the solid plan, checking their weapons. Jeff gave a slight nod as well, opening his mouth as he attempted to step closer to Cody. Cody ignored him and instead walked toward the Labyrinth’s opening and peered into the darkness.  
“I have two flashlights. I’ll take one,” he said. He looked up to see Jeff beside him and pushed another flashlight into the boy’s chest. “You take the other. Are you guys ready?”  
Violet checked her dagger one last time, Lisa attached her shield to her arm, and the two walked over to Cody and Jeff.  
“Alright, let’s go.”  
Cody climbed quickly down into the darkness. He gave the all clear when he reached the bottom, and Violet, Lisa, and Jeff followed.   
The flashlights weren’t completely useless, but the darkness seemed to make them shudder every few steps. There was only one path, which curved to the right, and the demigods followed it.   
Violet and Lisa had originally come up with a plan to make the two boys speak to each other, but in the eerie cavern, they thought better of it. It was too quiet. If they each talked to one boy, Cody and Jeff would hear the conversation with the other.  
While Lisa had seen what happened on the climbing wall and recounted it to Violet, neither of them could believe what had happened. It was like Jeff had gone berserk. Cody had almost reached the top when Jeff had yanked his friend’s leg so that he nearly let go. With one of Cody’s hands on the wall and the other scrambling to find a hold, Jeff had then shoved him into the way of an oncoming slew of lava. It was pure skill that Cody managed to swing to the side to avoid it. He had immediately dropped down from the wall to see Jeff grinning at the top of the structure.   
Surely Jeff hadn’t been jealous that Cody was going to beat him to the top? It wasn’t a competition, and Jeff wasn’t the jealous type. Maybe Jeff had slipped? But that didn’t explain the manic smile on his face when he leered down at him from the top of the climbing wall.   
Jeff swore he hadn’t even been to the climbing wall that day, let alone tried to hurt his best friend. Something about the situation was very wrong, but neither Violet nor Lisa could decide what was off about it.  
After walking for twenty minutes, the group was getting anxious. The tunnel kept curving up, only to immediately slope back down. There seemed to be no end in sight. At some point Jeff realized the tunnel had closed off behind them and yelped in surprise, but that was the extent of their conversation. The only noise came from the rock crumbling under their feet as they pushed forward.  
“Hey,” Cody said suddenly. “Does this rock seem different to you?”  
“No, it reminds me of the rock we saw ten minutes ago,” Violet said sarcastically, though she was trying to keep her composure. Was Cody implying that they were going in circles?  
“No, I mean the color. And the texture.”  
Violet looked closer into the light from Cody’s flashlight to see that the rock had indeed changed. It was no longer brown and damp, but a dry, cracked gray.   
“We must be getting closer to something,” she said.   
Jeff gulped behind them but kept a brave face.   
The tunnel curved up and around, and at the end of the cavern, the four demigods saw a pale light coming from an exit.  
“You guys stay here. I’m gonna scout out the area,” Cody said. The other three nodded, and Cody crept forward. He slipped out the exit, and after a moment, he waved the others forward.   
“It’s a graveyard,” he whispered.   
While graveyards were reserved for the dead, Violet had never seen one so lifeless. The ground was nearly solid stone with no plants growing. It looked difficult to even dig graves in it. The weathered headstones had their words chipped away until it was impossible to read whatever had been engraved on them. The dark gray sky matched the dull coloration of the cemetery, which was relatively small, and the fields surrounding it. The demigods could see no living thing, person or creature, for miles.   
“I wonder why the Labyrinth took us here. There were no other pathways,” said Lisa.   
Lisa heard a choking noise behind her. She saw Jeff fall to the ground, clutching his head.  
“Jeff?” she asked.  
“Cody?” Violet asked a ways away. Lisa turned to find Cody in the same position as Jeff, nearly in a fetal position on the ground.  
Suddenly, Jeff looked up jerkily at Lisa. His eyes were glowing, and veins were popping out against his skin.   
“It appears our scouting did some good after all,” he said, in a raspy voice that was entirely unlike Jeff’s.   
“Yes, it appears so.” Lisa turned to find Cody in the same position, eyes glowing, veins popping. His voice sounded like Jeff’s.   
“Eidolons…” Violet gasped, her face pale. “Possessing spirits. You took over Jeff earlier.”  
“Indeed we did,” hissed Jeff. “And it seems it’s time for us to finish what we started. You demigods will perish at your own hands!”  
Cody and Jeff lunged, but not at Lisa and Violet. They went straight for each other, swords flashing in the dull light of the cemetery.   
“They’re taking out our strongest fighters,” Lisa said.   
“Well, we shouldn’t fight them too. That’s what the Eidolons want!” Violet told Lisa.  
“We have to do something!” her friend said.   
Two blinding lights suddenly illuminated the sky. The Eidolons in Jeff and Cody’s bodies averted their eyes for a split second, but continued fighting. Lisa and Violet searched for the light source, which happened to be above their heads.   
One of the sources, which was shaped like a goblet with grape vines and emitted a purple light, was placed above Lisa’s head, while the other, an owl emitting a silver light, shone above Violet’s.   
“We’re being claimed!” said Lisa.   
“You’re a daughter of Dionysus, and I’m a daughter of Athena!” Violet said.   
“We need a plan, daughter of Athena!”   
Meanwhile, the Eidolons had paid no attention to the girls and instead were intent on their battle. Cody made a quick slice near Jeff’s knee, but Jeff paid no mind and knocked the butt of his sword into Cody’s gut. The Eidolons didn’t seem to register pain, and Violet wasn’t sure how much longer Cody and Jeff could take without being seriously hurt.   
“Right, a plan…” Violet said. “There are no plants around here, so you can’t use chlorokinesis. What other powers does Dionysus have?”  
Jeff leaped over Cody’s head and swung his sword wildly. It nearly collided with Cody’s neck, but he dodged just in time.  
“Madness!” Violet exclaimed.  
“What about madness?” Lisa said.   
“The Eidolons inhabit minds! If you can drive Cody and Jeff mad, that should get rid of the Eidolons!”  
Lisa hesitated. She’d never known if she had godly powers, being unclaimed up until now, but she had no choice. She only hoped she wouldn’t hurt Jeff or Cody in the process.  
Lisa concentrated. She did seem to have a knack for being an intense kind of crazy. She channeled all of the crazy she could muster in her mind and pretended to push it out onto Jeff and Cody. She felt a wave of something flow out of her.   
Jeff and Cody suddenly froze, then collapsed. Their breathing turned shallow, but Lisa continued doing what she was doing. Violet gasped beside her as the boys’ eyes began to roll into their heads.   
They heard a soft sort of shrieking that wasn’t coming from the boys’ mouths. A soft steam seemed to pour out of their heads, and as it manifested, the shrieking became louder. The smoke twisted into the image of two women, each clutching their heads and shrieking. Their eyes were rolling, and they clawed at their faces. The Eidolons screamed gibberish, started laughing maniacally, and slowly floated away on a gentle breeze.  
Violet rushed over to Jeff and Cody, who were stirring. Cody sat up and shook his head.  
“What happened?” he asked.  
“You were possessed by Eidolons,” Violet gasped. “How do you feel?”  
“My stomach hurts like crazy.” Cody lifted his shirt to find a large bruise where Jeff had hit him earlier.   
“Jeff, how are you?” Violet asked.  
“I hurt all over…” Jeff said. He looked at the back of his knee and wiped away a smear of blood.  
“What happened when we were possessed? I don’t remember what just happened,” Cody said.   
“You attacked each other.”  
Cody and Jeff gaped at her.  
“Why did the Eidolons stop?  
“Lisa drove them away with madness.”  
“Madness?” Jeff asked. “I don’t feel angry.”  
“No,” Lisa said, walking beside the three. “We got claimed! I’m a daughter of Dionysus, and Violet’s a daughter of Athena!”  
“Oh, wow, congrats, guys!”   
“The Eidolons possessed Jeff earlier,” Violet told Cody.  
“What?” Cody said.  
“That’s what happened earlier on the climbing wall. The Eidolons said they went to scout. They possessed Jeff. That’s why he tried to kill you and doesn’t remember it,” Violet said. She searched the faces of her two friends, hoping they understood what this meant.  
Cody turned to face Jeff. He broke out into a weak smile.  
“I shouldn’t have doubted you, man,” said Cody. “You would never try to hurt me. I’m so sorry.”  
Jeff burst into tears and hugged Cody, and Cody hugged him back. Lisa and Violet sighed in relief. The feud was finally over.  
Something thumped underneath them. Cody and Jeff released their hug and scrambled into standing positions, weapons at the ready.   
“What was that?” asked Jeff.  
“I don’t know.”  
There was another thump. Then another.   
Suddenly, the ground exploded by them. Every grave was upheaved, and the demigods heard a synchronized moaning.  
“I don’t like the sound of that…” said Jeff.  
Dark smoke, similar to that of the Eidolons, burst forth from every grave. Every puff of smoke changed into the shape of a banshee-like woman, each moaning loudly  
“Keres!” said Violet. “Female death-spirits!”  
“Take cover!” Cody ordered.   
Each of the demigods shot behind a headstone, but the keres paid them no mind. The swiftly flew over to the entrance of the Labyrinth and descended into it. As soon as they could no longer hear moaning, the four demigods got out from their hiding spots.   
“Why did they go into the Labyrinth?” Lisa asked. Violet paled.  
“There was only one path. And if it’s not blocked off anymore…” she said.  
“They’re heading for Camp Half-Blood!” Cody said seriously. “Come on! We have to follow them!”  
Cody, Jeff, Violet, and Lisa unsheathed their weapons and ran into the Labyrinth together.


	14. Fight the Labyrinth's Battle Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun chapter to write!!! I'm not the best battle scene writer, but it turned out pretty well, I think. We have one more chapter (and maybe an epilogue? I may combine them) to go! Thanks for sticking around!!

Back at camp, Collin and Baxter had worked through the strategy of the battle. After planning with their mother Athena, they conferred with Walker, their champion fighter, who put their plan into action. 

Walker paired Johnny, Stephen, RJ, and Ollie with Zoey. They took the front lines, with Johnny leading the troops. Zoey summoned a legion of the undead to surround the entrance to the Labyrinth. Johnny whistled.

“That’s some serious skill you have there,” he said. “Don’t worry about the battle. We’ll keep you guarded, and you keep the soldiers coming.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Zoey said, determined.

Suzy and Dimitri had been laying traps all morning, trying to stay out of the way of Starchman as he played a panpipe to summon the satyrs and nymphs of Camp Half-Blood. Thankfully the nymphs were stealthy and careful enough to avoid the traps as they moved forward (the satyrs not so much, but at least the Hermes kids knew the traps were in working order). 

Boss Leader and Garcia, the two children of Hypnos at the camp, zapped any campers who had been too afraid to sleep the night before, giving them the energy of a good night’s sleep. They’d need it.

By the afternoon, everyone had taken their place on the battlefield. The campers jumped at every sound they heard, even though they knew there would be a signal when their enemies came out of the Labyrinth. It was nerve-wracking, waiting for an unknown enemy who would appear any minute now. Any minute now…

The campers felt it before they heard it. Hundreds, if not thousands, of feet scurried underneath them about an hour after the prophecy groups had left. They demigods tensed, poised on the balls of their feet, ready for anything to pop out of the ground.

Camp Half-Blood went eerily silent. 

And then the entrance to the Labyrinth exploded.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Rock walls were sliding out of the way as fast as Max’s group could run, leading them in an unknown direction. 

“Is this even the way they went?” yelled Isaac.

“Do we have a choice?” Isabel asked. 

They ran forward until something collided with Isabel at the front of the group. The team drew their weapons at the new challenge. Isabel tried to strike the force that hit her, but stopped before she made the blow. 

“Rick?” she asked. 

“Isabel?” asked Rick Spender.

Another stone doorway opened, and Cody, Jeff, Violet, and Lisa tripped over Rick and Isabel.

“Isabel?”

“Cody?”

“Rick?”

“Mina?”

“Violet? Lisa?”

“…Zeus kid?”

“ISAAC.”

As soon as everyone got their bearings, they found themselves enclosed in a new hallway with one way out. They heard screaming coming from the other end. 

“CAMP HALF-BLOOD!” the teams all yelled, and surged forward toward the exit into the camp.

As soon as they all got out of the Labyrinth, they found themselves surrounded by legions of the undead, who were (thankfully) ignoring them and fighting the monsters that must have emerged just before them. 

“Zoey!” Max cried, as he saw Johnny and his gang fighting to keep her protected. He ran forward to help, Stygian iron baseball bat/sword in hand. 

Cody, Violet, Jeff, and Lisa all ran forward to fight in the battle as a team. While Cody manipulated their chances of winning, Lisa encompassed the keres near them with madness, and Violet and Jeff struck them down. 

Day chanted at the monsters to stay away as she, Mina, and Rick made a beeline for the Apollo campers. Rick took his sunglasses and made a bow and arrow set of light, firing at the Stymphalian birds. Mina set to work healing those already wounded, and Day set to warding off the monsters encroaching on the infirmary.

Suzy and Dimitri were setting up fallen traps and taking out the monsters entangled in them. 

“I’ll take this one over here,” Suzy said as they reached a fork where the paths divided. “You take the other one.”

“Stay safe,” Dimitri said in agreement and took off.

Suzy slashed the throat of two empousa stuck in a net, turning them to dust. She had severed the now broken net and had begun setting up the new one when she heard a screech right above her. She didn’t have time to duck as a metallic feather shot directly at her chest. 

A shield was thrown in front of her just in time, deflecting the bronze feather. On her right, Suzy saw Ed Burger catch the shield that Isabel Guerra had thrown. Isaac O’Connor called upon lightning and fried the Stymphalian bird that had tried to kill Suzy. 

“Why’d you bother saving me?” Suzy spat, though she was obviously shaken up by being inches from death. 

Isabel shot her a confused look. More Stymphalian birds, upset by their comrade’s death, began surrounding them.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Isabel asked.

Suzy jumped down from the tree she was tying the net to, unsheathed her sword, and ducked around Isabel. She ripped her way through about three birds before answering.

“You’re so full of yourself! You stole my quest last year, you didn’t even finish it, and now you’ve got the nerve to act like you’re so innocent?”

“What are you talking about?” Isabel asked. “Chiron gave us that quest. I’m sorry you didn’t get it, but we’re on the same side! I don’t want you to die!”

Isabel slammed her shield into a bird before it could launch feathers at her. She sliced it in two.

“Look, I’m sorry we didn’t finish the quest, if you’re so angry. All of us were responsible for how it turned out. I hope you can forgive us.”

Suzy whipped her head around, stunned. Isabel covered her with her shield. 

“So will you fight with me or not? Because we don’t have time to be mad at each other if we want to finish this quest,” Isabel asked, face screwed up with the effort it took to keep the two of them covered.

Isaac summoned a flash of lightning that lit the sky, destroying every flying Stymphalian bird. Ed dodged a bird, leading it right into a trap that Suzy had laid earlier. 

Suzy rolled underneath Isabel’s shield, swung at the bird’s legs, and slashed its head off. She grinned at her fellow camper.

“If I’m gonna be part of a quest, I’m glad I’m with you guys,” she said. “Let’s finish this.”

Meanwhile, Max had been fighting alongside his sister. While he knew virtually nothing about sword fighting, he was able to switch his sword to baseball bat mode and smash the living daylights out of anything that came near, though the undead army mostly took care of that problem. He created a sword of whip with his powers, summoning rocks and metal and launching them at the oncoming enemies. 

He couldn’t tell who was winning. He hadn’t seen any campers fall, but there were so many enemies that it was hard to imagine them keeping up with them all. Zoey, too, was fading. She couldn’t keep her armies stable for much longer. 

Suddenly, Max felt something much larger and much more potent slither beneath the ground. He looked to Johnny and his friends, who hadn’t seemed to notice it. It must be my powers, he thought, warning me that something else is coming out of the Labyrinth…

Wait. The Labyrinth. 

It was still open.

“Johnny, hold your ground!” he yelled. “I’m gonna seal the Labyrinth entrance!”

“Hurry!” Johnny shouted. He and his gang had begun using their Friendship Fusion as a last resort. 

“Stay safe, Zoey,” Max said to his sister, who nodded in response, concentrating on her task. 

Max ran through the slew of skeletal warriors, dodging under swords and beaks and fists. He came to the entrance to the Labyrinth right as the monstrous underground force did. Max willed the rock to shut the Labyrinth, but he was too late. 

A dark, lithe figure, as long as a football field, burst from the Labyrinth entrance. Its blue and red eyes adjusted to the light, and it opened its mouth in a horrible squelching screech. 

Verminus had returned, hungry for vengeance. 

While Max wasn’t prepared to fight a god, he sure as heck could make it harder for it to take the camp. He slammed the Labyrinth’s entrance shut onto the tail of the beast, which roared in pain. Golden blood dripped from its tail. 

So gods can be beaten, Max thought. I just have to find its weak spot. 

Verminus whipped its head towards the source of its pain, and its eyes narrowed on Max. It bared its teeth and shot towards him. 

Max lunged out of the way, then tried to turn around in time to stab the creature, but it was fast. It got its tail loose from the rock and whipped Max across the stomach, knocking him down. 

Max got up in time to see the skeletal army fall. Monsters lunged at Zoey and her guard.

“No!” Max yelled. He threw up a shield of crystal to protect Zoey just as Verminus made to strike him. Max didn’t have time to save himself. 

Before Verminus could reach him, a pillar of quartz, aimed at the beast, shot up from the ground in front of Max. Verminus couldn’t stop itself in time and impaled itself through its open mouth and into its head. Golden blood spewed from its mouth, drenching Max.

Max saw a man walking towards him and the beast out of the corner of his eye. The man was too old to be a camper. He looked a lot like Max. Something told Max he was being uncharacteristically serious.

“Understand this, Verminus,” said the man. “If you ever face me or my children again, you will regret it more than you do now. I will knee you in the guts and gut your non-existent knees. I hope to never see you again.”

And with that, the man raised him arms. The ground around Verminus shook, and its body sank into the earth. The man remained looking at where the god had disappeared for a second longer before looking up at Max, smiling. 

“Heya, buddy bear,” he said. “I’ll send word for you and your sister soon. We have a lot to discuss. But for now, you’re safe.”

He gestured to the battle grounds. Without Verminus, Max saw, the monsters seemed to have lost all their strength. They cowered and began running back towards the Labyrinth, only to find the entrance blocked. As demigods charged into the area to fight the now helpless monsters, Max turned back to find his dad, but Pluto was gone. 

So, instead, Max ran to Zoey, who was shaken but ok. Max hugged her for a long time, while the chaos of battle ended around them. 

Max felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find Johnny smiling at him. 

“You did good, Max,” he said. 

Campers began swarming the questers, giving them pats on the back and congratulations. Isaac, Isabel, and Ed came over to Max, exchanging high fives and fist bumps as they all walked back towards the cabins. Jeff, Cody, Violet, and Lisa joined them, and the group exchanged stories of their adventures.

Mina, Rick, and Day were all helping wounded demigods. Thankfully, no one had died, but some serious injuries needed treating. 

“You know, Mina,” Rick said as the twins bandaged a camper’s broken arm. “I’ve been thinking. You and Day make a pretty good couple. So I give you my blessing-“

“Excuse me?” Mina said. “I do NOT need your blessing.”

“Well, I just figured… I’ve been kind of rude towards her lately. And I’m sorry. So, here’s to your future with her!”

Mina blushed hard, then blushed harder when she heard Day, who had obviously heard the conversation, laughing behind her. She busied herself in her work while Rick grinned. 

As the campers stowed their weapons, showered, and got ready for dinner, Dionysus met again with Hebe in the Big House. 

“Did they finish the quest?” Hebe asked, blinking her big eyes at Dionysus. 

“I’d say. Though the battle could have been prolonged. These kids need training for the real world,” he said. 

Hebe cackled at Dionysus’ cynicism. Then, she disappeared, ready to report back to Olympus.


	15. Hearts Mended

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand it's done! I've completed the fic! Thank you SO MUCH for your support, guys!!! :D

Though everyone was exhausted, the campfire session after dinner was animated. Campers jumped from bench to bench, exchanging excited words with those in other cabins, then moving on to talk to others. 

Day and Mina sat by the fire, grinning and holding hands. Rick’s siblings all offered him congratulations. Johnny, Stephen, RJ, and Ollie led the loudest bought of story-telling, enacting dramatic scenes from the battle and showing off their Friendship Fusion. Max and Zoey sat next to each other, watching as Isaac, Ed, and Isabel talked to Suzy, Dimitri, and Collin for the first time in a long while. Everyone was at peace.

So, of course, SOMETHING had to come along and change that. 

A hand tugged at Max’s shoulder. Max whipped around, baseball bat in hand to see a wide-eyed PJ the ghost. 

“DON’T HIT ME! I JUST HAVE A MESSAGE!” PJ yelped, hiding behind Lefty, who had followed him to the campfire. 

PJ’s cry had startled some of the campers, who were now watching Max and Zoey avidly. 

“A message from who?” Max asked cautiously. 

“Pluto.”

Max tensed, as did Zoey. 

“I-I mean, your dad…” PJ stuttered.

“We know who he is,” Max said tersely. 

“What does he want?” asked Zoey. 

“He wants to see you in Olympus tomorrow.”

Campers gaped at them. 

“So, let me get this straight,” Max started. “We have to go on another life-threatening quest to get to Olympus-“

“Uh, no, actually. Olympus is just on the 500th floor of the Empire State Building…” PJ stammered.

“Oh. Ok.” Zoey looked at Max.

“You don’t think this is a good idea?”

“Well, he saved our lives. He can’t be THAT bad, can he?” Max said. They probably didn’t have much of a choice, either, he thought to himself. 

“Argus can drive you tomorrow morning,” Dionysus said, behind them. He always seemed to know what was going on. “And it’s time to pack up this jamboree. Counselors, get your siblings to your cabins! You can’t just relax after fighting one battle. There’ll be more to come!”

And so the campers all left for bed. As soon as the matter was settled, PJ and Lefty dissipated, returning to the Underworld where they belonged, off to tell Pluto of his children’s agreement to see him.

\-----------------------------

The next day, Max and Zoey silently rode up the elevator to Olympus. Showtunes were playing in the background. 

“So are we really not going to acknowledge the fact that Argus was a giant, one-eyed being that looked like a cocoon?”

“Max.”

“I’m just saying!”

Zoey squeezed his hand. “I’m nervous, too.”

They waited together for the elevator to reach the 500th floor. When it dinged and the door opened, they stepped out into the fog. 

“What is this? I can’t see anything,” said Max. 

As they stepped forward, the mist cleared from their eyes. They found themselves standing at the foot of a giant, white building, large enough for someone at least twenty feet tall to enter. It was surrounded by pillars with ornate carvings. Whispers seemed to emanate from all around them, but Max and Zoey couldn’t see anyone besides themselves.

“Do we just go in?” asked Zoey.

“I guess? I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?” Max laughed nervously. 

The two siblings stepped up together. As they climbed the stairs and entered the building, they saw how empty everything was. No gods or demigods or servants wandered around. It was totally quiet. 

Max saw a flash of red peak out from behind a door suddenly. A woman appeared, dressed in a black toga, with clasps of what looked like bone, but her face and bright red hair were unmistakable. 

“Mom!” Zoey and Max said, and they ran forward to hug their mother, who ran to them as well and enveloped them in a bone-crunching hug. All three were crying, even Max, and he would have admitted it, too. It felt so good to have her back. 

“You must have a lot of questions,” Mom Puckett said, trying to talk between her sobs of joy. “Where should I start?”

“You’re alive,” said Max. “How?”

“When Verminus went to attack me, Pluto froze me in the moment before I would have died and brought me to the Underworld. He saved my life,” she said. 

“He saved you?” Max asked incredulously. 

“Of course,” Mom Puckett said. 

“Why didn’t he bring you back to us?” Max said, harsher than he intended. 

“He wanted to make sure I was safe.”

“What about us?” Zoey said. 

“Camp Half-Blood was safer for you two as demigods. As a mortal, I wouldn’t be able to get in. It’s-“

Mom Puckett turned her head as a slight breeze ruffled the door she had come from. 

“It’s… complicated. But right now, your father wants to speak to you two. Max, you go first.”

Max tensed. A “Why should I?” lodged in his throat. But if his mother was telling the truth, if Pluto had saved her…

“Ok…” Max said. He took another look at his mother, memorizing every familiar thing about her, before turning into the next room. 

Twelve thrones made a semicircle around a fire pit. Staring into the fire was a man who Max had seen before, and now he knew who he was. 

“Pluto,” said Max. “Dad.”

Pluto looked up from the fire and beamed. He looked genuinely happy to see Max. 

“Hey, Buddy Bear,” he said. “It’s nice to finally see you all grown up.” 

Max nodded, in some form of agreement. His father’s smile dimmed a little, a sadness now in his eyes. 

“I left because I angered another god,” Pluto began, correctly guessing why Max was so angry. “Verminus, the god of cattle. He protected them from disease. Some time ago, in anger at Apollo, I wiped out a herd of his cattle. While Apollo has since forgiven me, Verminus never has. I thought I had him under control until he escaped the bonds I held him with.”

Pluto searched Max’s face. He wore glasses, Max noticed. Did gods need glasses? Max remained stoic. Pluto continued. 

“I had fallen in love with your mother before things got out of control. When you were born, I told myself I’d deal with Verminus. Right after Zoey was born, Verminus escaped. I left to lead him off your trail, but I should have done better. I’m so sorry.” 

That surprised Max. A god apologizing to him? 

“Things were getting rough up in Olympus. Demigods were choosing sides, so gods were too. When I learned you were part of a bigger prophecy, I had to let you choose your own path. Verminus is gone, the gods are saved, and it’s because of you. Thank you.”

Pluto’s nose crinkled when he smiled, just like Zoey’s did. 

“I really hope you can forgive me. But it’s alright if you don’t. You have every right-“

“I forgive you,” said Max. 

Now, it was Pluto’s turn to look startled. 

“Really?”

“Yeah. You saved Mom. You can’t be that bad.”

Pluto’s grin was infectious, and Max managed to give his father a weak one. Pluto reached forward and pulled Max into a hug. 

“Ok! That’s a little much! Please do not touch me!” Max said as he squirmed away from his father. Pluto laughed and released him. 

“Will you be coming back now?” Max asked. Pluto stopped smiling. 

“I’ll… need to talk to your mom about that. Let’s see Zoey for now, then we can work on that.”

Zoey and Mom Puckett entered the room soon after, and Pluto again explained to Zoey what occurred over the last couple of days. 

“Are you going to stay with us now?” she asked warily. 

Pluto exchanged a glance with Mom Puckett, who seemed to understand something and nodded sadly. 

“I’m afraid I can’t,” said Pluto. He looked crestfallen. “I rule the Underworld, and that’s no place for any of you. I have my duties to attend to.”

Max figured. Pluto was back to deadbeat dad again.

“But this time, I’m putting you kids back in my life,” said Pluto. “I swear by the River Styx that I will show up to your birthday parties and school graduations and prom-“

“Uh, Dad-“

“Ok, maybe not prom. I don’t want to embarrass you. But at least let me get you zombie chauffeur. Those guys are the best!”

“Um-“

“But seriously,” Pluto said, taking one of Zoey’s and one of Max’s hands in his own. “I want to do this differently. If you need me, all you need to do is go to a graveyard and send me a sacrifice, McDonald’s or something, and I’ll be there to give you advice.”

“About what?” asked Max. 

“I don’t know. Girls. Murdering someone and hiding the body correctly. You name it!”

“What.”

“Your father has made some arrangements for us,” Mom Puckett interrupted. “I know we grew up in California, but that was to be close to Camp Jupiter in case something happened. Now that you two have made friends in Camp Half-Blood, Pluto has made it possible for us to live in New York. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but-“

“I’d love to!” said Zoey. Even Max nodded. 

Mom Puckett sighed in relief. 

“Thank the gods. Those Romans can be so stuffy. No offense!” she said hastily, trying to hide her laugh as Pluto looked pointedly at her. Pluto chuckled. 

“You all should go. Zeus has only allotted me so much time to use the building. And I think it’s time for your next adventure to begin,” he said. He hugged Zoey and Mom Puckett, gave Max a passionate high five instead of a hug, and escorted the trio out into Olympus. He waved goodbye as the mist began to cloud their vision, and they found themselves in the elevator. 

As they rode down, excited to get to their new home, Max found himself at ease for the first time in a long while. He had his family, his new friends, and the gods on his side. He could face anything that came his way. He was ready.


End file.
